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VW may have developed a major hydrogen breakthrough...cars could travel 2000 km on a single tank of fuel.
VW often rails against hydrogen cars, but the German automaker is reported to have filed a patent that could mean a major breakthrough for hydrogen powered vehicles, reports Patrick Freiwa of the German Kreiszeitung here.
Though the latest trend has been electric cars, these have also a number of technical drawbacks like range, cost, mining and weight. Moreover there is also the problem of how to dispose of millions of tons of batteries at the end of their lives.
Files patent
Despite VW having railed against hydrogen technology for cars, the automaker has "filed a patent for a special fuel cell with the Saxon company Kraftwerk Tubes GmbH," thus making it clear that the auto giant is indeed pushing hydrogen technology. With the new technology from VW, the company looks to set itself apart from the rest of the field, which has focused on fuel cell technology.
According to the Kreiszeitung: "The main difference to the fuel cells of Hyundai and Toyota is that VW has set on a ceramic diaphragm instead of the usual plastic diaphragm and is the only manufacturer of this technology that produces the ceramic membrane in such a way that the fuel cell can be started quickly."
The advantages are lower production costs and the elimination of platinum.
Up to 2000 km range
"The target for the breakthrough of this form of mobility is considered to be the so-called solid-state cell battery," reports the Kreiszeitung. VW predicts shorter refueling times with the innovative technology.
"We can travel up to 2,000 kilometers on a single tank of fuel," says the VW engineer Sascha Kuhn.
If true, electric cars will be left in the dust.
