Support All Those Who are Plugging Away for You by Felix Kramer

This is a celebratory time, when we combine time with family and friends with thoughts about 2011 and our concerns for so many aspects of our future. We can acknowledge our successes in beginning to change the auto industry, and think about what comes next. We hope you readers of CalCars-News are thinking about what you’ll do next year to continue to address the giant challenges presented by our global dependence on fossil fuels. And we hope BEFORE YEAR-END you’ll contribute, if you haven’t done so already,to CalCars and the many other organizations working on behalf of your globe and its inhabitants. More on that below. Plus stay tuned for news in the next few days about a CalCars event to celebrate the arrival in California of the Chevy Volt!

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Missouri S&T EcoCAR Goes PHEV Hydrogen? Wind and Solar Too!

While I am not a fan of the fuel cell in a car, it’s interesting to see how the Missouri S&T EcoCAR team re-engineered a 2009 stock GM SUV into a Chevy EcoCAR. The Missouri S&T EcoCAR is a hydrogen Fuel Cell Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (FC-PHEV). Missouri S&T has produced hydrogen on-site for two years and is the only hydrogen station in Missouri. As illustrated below, the stock engine was removed to make room for the GM-donated fuel cell. In addition, the team added hydrogen storage tanks, a high voltage DC/DC Converter and a Missouri S&T designed electrical storage system which utilizes A123 Systems Inc.battery modules. EcoCAR is a 3 year program where college students develop their best re-engineerined car with the help of General Motors and the US Department of Energy. This “three-year competition” is intended to challenge students to re-engineer a GM vehicle to decrease emissions, energy consumption and green house gases.

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