Gservo
19th August 2002, 05:09 PM
‘Skateboard’ vehicle can have interchangeable bodies
GM's Hy-Wire hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle is a drivable version of a concept the automaker unveiled during January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this year.
http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/1591644.jpg
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Aug. 14 — The car has no engine, transmission, brake or gas pedals and is controlled by a box that looks like it belongs in the hands of a video game jockey.
THE SWEEPING WINDSHIELD on the four-door sedan body reaches down close to the bumpers and there’s room to spare inside because there are no mechanical components.
The body is connected to a skateboard-like chassis that contains most of the vehicle’s working parts.
General Motors Corp. revealed the first pictures Wednesday of the fuel-cell powered vehicle, called the Hy-wire.
It’s the first drivable version of a concept the automaker unveiled during January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit under the name Autonomy as its attempt to reinvent the automobile.
The new name “conveys the message we’re above the crowd, we’re willing to take risks and we’re capable of doing some things with this technology that one would not normally expect,” Larry Burns, GM vice president research and development and planning, told reporters at a recent briefing here.
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The concept was to create a 6-inch thick chassis devoid of a powertrain, stuffed with electronic components instead of mechanical controls for steering, braking or acceleration with four electric motors, one for each wheel, driven by hydrogen fuel cells.
Interchangeable bodies would be “docked” to the skateboard-looking chassis, making it possible, in theory, for a driver to follow whim or necessity without the expense of buying a new vehicle.
The Hy-wire represents a very early, incremental version of what GM hopes to one day market, but the automaker says it shows the concept is workable.
Engineers couldn’t quite get all the components into a 6-inch chassis, but did manage to fit them in one that’s 11 inches in the middle, tapering to 7 inches on either end.
“This suggests GM is focusing less on the technical issues of making fuel cells operate and more on packaging,” said Thad Malesh, director of alternative power technologies for the market research firm J.D. Power and Associates.
“Clearly it will be one way to focus on research work, with an eye toward commercialization,” Malesh said.
Hy-wire is the first vehicle that combines fuel cell technology with by-wire operation.
Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity. By-wire is a technology that substitutes electronic controls for nearly every mechanical component such as brake and accelerator peddles and a steering wheel.
Everything is operated with a hand-held unit called an X-Drive, which can be moved from side to side like a video game system.
Acceleration is performed by twisting a handle as a motorcycle rider would, and braking similarly is accomplished by squeezing a hand control. Steering is a matter of moving around an aircraft-like yoke.
The system was developed by The SKF Group, a Swedish company.
Tom Johnstone, the company’s executive vice president says some applications of by-wire technology should be available in production vehicles by 2005.
“By-wire is safer because there is no steering column and better for the environment because there is no hydraulic fluid,” Johnstone said.
GM sees Hy-wire as one step closer to meeting specific targets for cleaner-running, hydrogen-fed fuel cell vehicles.
“GM’s goal is to be the world’s first company to produce 1 million fuel cell vehicles a year,” Burns said.
GM’s other goal, he said, is to make money doing so.
Burns said GM hopes to achieve “high penetration, high profitability,” selling hundreds of thousands of fuel cell vehicles between 2010 and 2020.
“If we don’t do this, somebody else is going to do it,” he said.
A decision must be made by 2005 or 2006 on whether to greenlight a production version of the Hy-wire by 2010, Burns said.
Every major automaker is working on some sort of fuel-cell vehicle, but considerable challenges lay ahead before they begin to mass-market them.
For one, the vehicles are too expensive.
“Right now we’re about 10 times too costly,” Burns said.
Another obstacle is the lack of a hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
Still another concern is developing on-board tanks that are both light and strong enough to transport hydrogen, a flammable gas, safely, at capacities large enough to provide an acceptable driving range of about 300 miles.
“A lot of where we end up doing reforming depends on consumers’ level of comfort,” J.D. Power’s Malesh said. “My belief is there will be some resistance.”
GM's Hy-Wire hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle is a drivable version of a concept the automaker unveiled during January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this year.
http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/1591644.jpg
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Aug. 14 — The car has no engine, transmission, brake or gas pedals and is controlled by a box that looks like it belongs in the hands of a video game jockey.
THE SWEEPING WINDSHIELD on the four-door sedan body reaches down close to the bumpers and there’s room to spare inside because there are no mechanical components.
The body is connected to a skateboard-like chassis that contains most of the vehicle’s working parts.
General Motors Corp. revealed the first pictures Wednesday of the fuel-cell powered vehicle, called the Hy-wire.
It’s the first drivable version of a concept the automaker unveiled during January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit under the name Autonomy as its attempt to reinvent the automobile.
The new name “conveys the message we’re above the crowd, we’re willing to take risks and we’re capable of doing some things with this technology that one would not normally expect,” Larry Burns, GM vice president research and development and planning, told reporters at a recent briefing here.
Advertisement
The concept was to create a 6-inch thick chassis devoid of a powertrain, stuffed with electronic components instead of mechanical controls for steering, braking or acceleration with four electric motors, one for each wheel, driven by hydrogen fuel cells.
Interchangeable bodies would be “docked” to the skateboard-looking chassis, making it possible, in theory, for a driver to follow whim or necessity without the expense of buying a new vehicle.
The Hy-wire represents a very early, incremental version of what GM hopes to one day market, but the automaker says it shows the concept is workable.
Engineers couldn’t quite get all the components into a 6-inch chassis, but did manage to fit them in one that’s 11 inches in the middle, tapering to 7 inches on either end.
“This suggests GM is focusing less on the technical issues of making fuel cells operate and more on packaging,” said Thad Malesh, director of alternative power technologies for the market research firm J.D. Power and Associates.
“Clearly it will be one way to focus on research work, with an eye toward commercialization,” Malesh said.
Hy-wire is the first vehicle that combines fuel cell technology with by-wire operation.
Fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity. By-wire is a technology that substitutes electronic controls for nearly every mechanical component such as brake and accelerator peddles and a steering wheel.
Everything is operated with a hand-held unit called an X-Drive, which can be moved from side to side like a video game system.
Acceleration is performed by twisting a handle as a motorcycle rider would, and braking similarly is accomplished by squeezing a hand control. Steering is a matter of moving around an aircraft-like yoke.
The system was developed by The SKF Group, a Swedish company.
Tom Johnstone, the company’s executive vice president says some applications of by-wire technology should be available in production vehicles by 2005.
“By-wire is safer because there is no steering column and better for the environment because there is no hydraulic fluid,” Johnstone said.
GM sees Hy-wire as one step closer to meeting specific targets for cleaner-running, hydrogen-fed fuel cell vehicles.
“GM’s goal is to be the world’s first company to produce 1 million fuel cell vehicles a year,” Burns said.
GM’s other goal, he said, is to make money doing so.
Burns said GM hopes to achieve “high penetration, high profitability,” selling hundreds of thousands of fuel cell vehicles between 2010 and 2020.
“If we don’t do this, somebody else is going to do it,” he said.
A decision must be made by 2005 or 2006 on whether to greenlight a production version of the Hy-wire by 2010, Burns said.
Every major automaker is working on some sort of fuel-cell vehicle, but considerable challenges lay ahead before they begin to mass-market them.
For one, the vehicles are too expensive.
“Right now we’re about 10 times too costly,” Burns said.
Another obstacle is the lack of a hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
Still another concern is developing on-board tanks that are both light and strong enough to transport hydrogen, a flammable gas, safely, at capacities large enough to provide an acceptable driving range of about 300 miles.
“A lot of where we end up doing reforming depends on consumers’ level of comfort,” J.D. Power’s Malesh said. “My belief is there will be some resistance.”