India may soon have car powered by hydrogen

Source: IANS.

New Delhi, February 2: If a group of defence scientists and automobile engineers has its way, people could soon be driving in India in a hydrogen fuel cell-powered mini car that could double up as a power generator.

The DRDO-Reva hybrid vehicle combines a car built by Bangalore-based Reva Electric Car Company with a fuel cell developed by scientists of the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation. Running it could cost as little as 40 paise a kilometre, say its developers.

"DRDO and Reva concluded an agreement about two months ago to develop the car, and we have already built the prototype," said S.C. Sharma, a scientist associated with the fuel cell programme at DRDO's Naval Materials Research Laboratory near Mumbai.

"DRDO has been working on fuel cells for about 10 years. This car currently has a mileage of 20 km per litre of methanol while running on its fuel cell," Sharma told IANS at the Defexpo 2006 where the car is displayed for the first time.

Although the development of the hybrid car could take up to a year, Sharma and Reva's V.M. Suresh, who is associated with the project, said it would have another use in electricity-starved areas in India's rural hinterland - it can be used as a generator to power a small home.

The fuel cell - which Sharma described as a "small power plant" - is silent and produces very little emissions. The green-and-black prototype, for which the chassis of the standard Reva car has been stretched so that the bulky fuel cell can be accommodated at its rear, has been attracting many curious visitors at the Defexpo.

While the standard Reva electric car has a range of 80 km, the hybrid will initially have a range of 120 km and this could be further extended. The hybrid's top speed is 65 km per hour.
When the car is switched on, it draws power from its built-in battery for the initial 30 minutes or so as methanol and water are converted into hydrogen to power the fuel cell.

"The fuel cell then continuously charges the battery and helps extend the vehicle's range and allows it to be operated in places where electricity is not readily available," said Sharma.

Suresh said it would be very cheap to run the hybrid car, given the subsidies offered by the Indian government to popularise methanol as an alternative green fuel.

"Methanol costs only about Rs.8 to Rs.10 a litre and the car has a very good mileage," he remarked.

More importantly, the DRDO-Reva uses a phosphoric acid fuel cell, which can run on "dirty hydrogen" or hydrogen with a strong content of gases like carbon dioxide - something that Sharma noted is ideal for polluted cities like Delhi.