Batteries

Electrovair battery front - Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica

Published on September 21st, 2013 | by Silvio Marcacci

1966: Back To The Future Of Fuel Cell And Electric Vehicles (CT Exclusive)

September 21st, 2013 by Silvio Marcacci

Hydrogen fuel cell and electric vehicles are widely considered the future of clean transportation today, and while we’re all familiar with the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt now, did you know a major automaker built EV and fuel cell vehicles back in 1966?

I got a chance to go back to the future and check out the ancestors of today’s cutting-edge alternative fueled vehicles in person during a tour of the General Motors Heritage Center.

The Heritage Center, located outside Detroit in a nondescript office park, is a collection of 600 GM cars and trucks dating back 100 years – including the 1966 Electrovan and Electrovair II.

Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica

(Full disclosure — while GM sponsored my trip to tour the facility, it had no involvement in the editorial process of this post)

Fuel Cell And Electric Vehicles In GM’s Car Museum

As part of my trip to Michigan for GM’s Global Battery Systems Laboratory expansion, I toured the Heritage Center and saw hundreds of cars on display – everything from a 1912 Cadillac with the first electric starter to the 2007 Chevy Tahoe that won DARPA’s autonomous vehicle contest.

While I was most interested in seeing the two 1966 alternative-fueled vehicles displayed in the center of the showroom, I couldn’t help thinking how ironic it was that some of the same hurdles that prevented these two cars from entering production over 50 years ago still vex automakers today.

GM Electrovan Fuel Cell Vehicle

The 1966 Electrovan was the first hydrogen fuel cell car ever produced. It was a modified 1966 GM Handivan, developed by a staff of 250 over two years. The vehicle was powered by a 5-kilowatt fuel cell built by Union Carbide, with 550 feet of plastic piping connecting 32 fuel cell modules. The cell is massive, with an electrolyte weighing 550 pounds, and it turned an eight passenger van into one that could barely fit two people.

GM's Electrovan – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Dig that 60's lettering – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Electrovan interior shot – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Fuel cell interior closeup – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Fuel cell interior closeup – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Fuel cell interior closeup – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Fuel cell interior closeup – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Electrovan details – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica

Electrovan’s fuel cell supplied a continuous output of 32 kilowatts, maximum output of 160 kilowatts, and was rated at 1,000 hours of use. The vehicle topped out at 70 miles per hour with a range of 150 miles, and went from 0-60 in 30 seconds. While the project was completed and Electrovan drove numerous trips, GM’s engineers had safety concerns about the fuel cell’s stability and limited trips to company property. High production costs meant it never entered production, but Electrovan demonstrated fuel cell technology could work in vehicles.

GM Electrovair II Electric Vehicle

GM’s Electrovair II was the company’s second attempt at a working electric vehicle, and was a modified 1966 Corvair Monza sport sedan. The car’s power source was 532-volt silver zinc battery pack built into the car’s front and rear compartments, and connected to a 115-horsepower AC-induction motor for a top speed of 80 mph.

GM's Electrovair II – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Electrovair battery closeup – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Electrovair battery rear – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Electrovair battery cells close up – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica
Electrovair details – Photo Credit: Silvio Marcacci / CleanTechnica

We’re used to hearing about lithium-ion batteries in today’s EVs, but silver zinc was used because it delivered high peak power and good energy storage while only adding 800 pounds of additional weight. By comparison, conventional lead acid batteries available at the time would have added 2,600 more pounds – the same weight as a standard Corvair!

Unfortunately, like the Electrovan, Electrovair II never made it past the experimental phase. The car’s battery provided between 40-80 miles of range, depending on how fast it was driven, but the battery wore out after 100 recharges.

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Tags: Autonomous vehicle, DARPA, detroit, Electrovair II, Electrovan, General Motors, GM, GM Global Battery Systems Laboratory, GM Heritage Center, hydrogen fuel cell, Hydrogen fuel cell car, lead acid battery, Lithium-ion battery, Michigan, Silver zinc battery

About the Author

Silvio Marcacci Silvio is Principal at Marcacci Communications, a full-service clean energy and climate policy public relations company based in Oakland, CA.

Peter Thomas

Just wanted to share an up and running project in Orange County, CA that is pairing municipal wastewater treatment plant with fuel cell technology to create 3 value streams of hydrogen, electricity and heat! Impressive in my opinion!

“New fuel cell sewage gas station in Orange County, CA may be world’s first”

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=8310315

“It is here today and it is deployable today,” said Tom Mutchler of Air Products and Chemicals Inc., a sponsor and developer of the project.

Microsoft Backs Away From Grid

http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2012/11/20/microsoft-backs-away-slowly-from-the-grid/

Germans are in favour of fuel cell cars

http://www.platinum.matthey.com/news-and-events/news-articles/2013/march/21st/germans-are-in-favour-of-fuel-cell-cars
John Smith

Silvio Marcacci waste time on 1966 fuel cell car.
Just like describing details how 1966 personal computer would look like.
- http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com/ John Bailo
  
  It’s funny but like the fuel cell, the first “personal size” computer was developed for the Gemini capsule, in 1966.
  
  And we all know what a big failure personal computers are…
agelbert

Thanks for the info. I’ll bet there is a fascinating fossil fuel negative influence back story to all these technologies that “didn’t work”. During exactly the same period NASA was using fuel cells on space vehicles.

Can anybody dare to say that nuclear power plants were ever economically feasible? Of course not. They could have built a hydrogen economy back then. That was simpler than fuel cells. The fossil fuel industry just didn’t want it.
There are a pair of ford fusion automobile engines (modified over ten years ago to run on hydrogen and then shelved) powering a drone right now that can run 30 hours non-stop and they were shooting for several days. Guess where the hydrogen comes from? A fuel cell!

http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/11/1/cb70bebb-e997-48b1-8193-3c9324c36afc.Full.jpg

Each of the two propulsion systems consist of modified Ford 2.3 liter engines, reduction gearbox, and 4-blade propeller. The engines were originally designed for use with some models of the petrol-burning Ford Fusion car. To be able to run in the oxygen starved atmosphere at 65,000 ft, the engines feature a multiple turbocharger system that compresses that available low density air and reduces the radiated infrared heat signature to increase its stealth properties.[13]

The engines, which provide 150 horsepower at sea level, have been tuned so as to be able to run on hydrogen.[13] Boeing’s marketing department states that this will make the aircraft economical and “green” to run, as the only by-product will be water.[13]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Phantom_Eye
- http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com/ John Bailo
  
  I wonder if it’s even worth arguing with these FUDsters. When they are not linking to pictures of zeppelins they are busy finding ways to mock and suppress a working technology…one that is being deployed in several countries already.

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1966: Back To The Future Of Fuel Cell And Electric Vehicles (CT Exclusive)