Nissan Is creating a new type of Fuel Cell for use in its upcoming EV cars.
Fuel Cell technology has been used on the the space shuttle so it's nothing new. However the Fuel Cell that Nissan Is designing, the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is a new type of Fuel Cell that puts Bio-Ethanol into a "reformer" that extracts the hydrogen from the ethanol molecule and then combines it with air in the Fuel Cell to create water and electricity.
One of the Major Problems when it comes to fuel cell technology is storing the hydrogen.
Hydrogen gas needs to be kept under high pressure in special hydrogen tanks that are subject to possible explosions. Also Typical Hydrogen Fuel Cells need a completely new infrastructure for creating, storing, transporting and selling the hydrogen. All this infrastructure is very expensive but With Nissans new Fuel Cell none of our existing infrastructure needs to be changed.
Benefits of this System
- No Need For Electrical Cables
- Longer Range than Battery EV's
- Instant Recharge. Just Fill The Tank
- Supports Existing Infrastructure
- Fewer Batteries that need replacing
This technology is still being developed but Nissan plans on having it ready for the public by 2020. I'm Pretty stoked on this technology. Maybe not so much the vehicle itself but the power train in general. I like Electric cars but there are some drawbacks. I'm not a fan of charging batteries my iPhone already annoys the crap out of me I don't need it in my car too. I like the idea of hydrogen fuel cells but not the way that hydrogen needs to be stored. That is why I'm Stoked on this, I can finally get an EV car that I would enjoy driving without getting annoyed with batteries or fuel storage. This is a game changing technology and I can't wait to see what Nissan does with it!!!
