General Motors Going Green to 2010

General Motors, worlds largest automaker and maker of quality auto parts like GM EGR valves, has recently announced its plans of producing a series of Hydrogen cars by 2010 as part of its strategy to push alternatives to conventional petrol.

During a presentation in Paul Springs, California, GMs chief engineer on the fuel cell project, Mohsen Shabana has stated that the hydrogen infrastructure would not be in place by then, but technicians are already working to make sure that car production is ready by 2010.

Meanwhile, GMs fuel cell concept vehicle, Sequel is using the third fuel cell generation which makes use of the lithium battery in storing braking energy. It is powered by an electric motor on the front axle and two wheel hub engines in the rear.

The new Sequel is able to travel 480 kilometers compared to its earlier model which can travel only 100 kilometers. The acceleration is also improved from 0 to 100km/h with time reduce from 20seconds down to 10 seconds. Top speed now stands at 145 km/h compared to the usual 100km/h.

The Sequel is purely a research vehicle of GM. The automaker has built only two units of this vehicle. To hasten the transition towards a hydrogen age, the automaker is planning to increase the test fleet to 100 vehicles and using the Chevrolet Equinox as its basis.

Ford has recently introduced a modified Ford Edge which is powered by a combination of compressed hydrogen and a plug-in battery pack that can be recharged with a standard home electrical cord.

It seems like General Motors is really serious about going green, as recently Iowa General Motors director of environment and energy programs Mary Beth Stanek said that the ethanol industry must strive to create higher blends of fuel. The announcement made at a biofuels forum is brought about by the desire of the automaker to increase production of flex-fuel vehicles.

Stanek also stressed that GM is committed to flex-fuel technology but also added that the automaker is very much open to the idea of developing an electric hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell technology. She said that the automaker has set a funding for research and development the only thing that is lacking is the corresponding support from the ethanol industry.

As answer to the points raised by Stanek, officials from the ethanol industry said that in order to make ethanol mainstream, there ought to be vehicles to burn it, infrastructure to make it and transport it. There is also a need for more technology to produce enough ethanol to meet demands.