GM Electrovan. Photo by Daniel Strohl.
In 2000, automaker Honda began using its experimental FCX-V3 hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle as the official pace car of the Los Angeles marathon, and by 2002 the city of Los Angeles became Honda’s first commercial customer for a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, leasing five FCX models for its fleet. In 2005, Honda leased its evolved FCX to the first non-fleet customer, and by mid-2008, the Japanese automaker was offering its FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to residential lessees in three California markets (Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine). Though German automakers Mercedes-Benz and BMW both conducted extensive research into hydrogen fuel cells, it would appear that Honda was the first to fully develop the technology, except for one inconvenient truth: GM developed a functioning hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle all the way back in 1966.
In simple terms, the 1966 GM Electrovan was an electric car (or electric van, adapted from a production GMC Handi-Van), powered by fuel cells instead of more conventional batteries. Fuel cells themselves take stored chemical energy and use it to produce electricity via a series of electrochemical reactions. In modern hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, only an external source of hydrogen is needed, as the oxygen utilized in the process is drawn from the air. Unlike the burning of fossil fuels, which produces a litany of things bad for the environment, a hydrogen fuel cell produces just two waste products: water vapor and heat. To get the power needed to drive a full size vehicle, fuel cells are stacked in series until the desired output level is reached.
As Honda explained the fuel cell process used in its FCX Clarity (which, admittedly, differs from the process used in the GM Electrovan, but shares the same basic foundation), hydrogen is fed into the anode of the fuel cell. Aided by a catalyst, the hydrogen molecules split into electrons and protons, with the electrons guided through a circuit to produce electricity. The protons pass through an electrolytic membrane, where they combine with oxygen molecules in the cathode. As the hydrogen electrons enter the cathode, they, too, combine with the oxygen in the cathode, and water vapor is the net result.
Fuel cells date to the 1800s, and prior to the development of the GM Electrovan, had been used to power systems aboard NASA’s Gemini spacecraft. In that regard, they were well proven, if a bit more complex (and bulky) than systems used in conventional hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The Electrovan required three onboard tanks: one for the liquid oxygen, one for the liquid hydrogen and a third for the electrolyte, potassium hydroxide. Both the liquid oxygen and the liquid hydrogen were kept at sub-zero temperatures, and the potassium hydroxide reportedly produced “brilliant fireworks” when it leaked. Given the highly flammable nature of both liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, this must have been anything but reassuring, and accidents did, occasionally, happen during the Electrovan’s development.
1966 GM Electrovan. Images courtesy GM Media Archives
Once, the on-board hydrogen tank exploded, though it isn’t clear if this was due to combustion or over-pressurization. In either case, the resulting force was enough to send shrapnel over a quarter-mile radius, prompting the decision to limit testing of the Electrovan to GM’s own property instead of extending it to public roads. The journalists on hand for its reveal in October of 1966 weren’t even allowed to drive it, as it was perceived to be far too complex (and potentially dangerous) to leave in untrained hands.
In addition to the three on-board liquid storage tanks, the Electrovan also utilized 32 thin-electrode fuel cell modules (in series), positioned under the floor of the van and connected by 550 feet of plastic tubing. These produced a continuous output of 32 kilowatts, with a peak output of 160 kilowatts, enough to get the 7,100 pound rolling laboratory from 0-60 MPH in 30 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 70 MPH. The control system and the motor occupied the space underneath the front seats, and on full tanks the Electrovan was said to have a range between 100 and 150 miles.
Though the demonstration was impressive (with some equating it to GM’s own space program), the Electrovan project was scrapped soon after its reveal. As each of the 32 fuel cells used a considerable amount of platinum in its construction, duplicating the build would have been cost-prohibitive for all practical purposes. Then there was the complexity of the laboratory-grade fuel cell system used in the Electrovan, as well as the total absence of a hydrogen infrastructure (which, hydrogen fuel cell proponents argue, is the same issue hampering development today).
Developing the Electrovan took 250 employees, led by Dr. Craig Marks (then head of GM’s futuristic engineering projects), and two and a half years of effort. While incredibly forward-thinking for its day, it’s hard to quantify exactly what GM learned from the experiment, or how it may have aided the company financially. Back in the mid-1960s, GM still had the kind of earnings to allow investing in pie-in-the-sky projects such as this without the need for a concrete and definable return (something that would never be permitted in these post-financial-apocalypse times).
In the years since, GM has dabbled in fuel cell concepts and experimental vehicles, showing the HydroGen 1 minivan in 2001; the AUTOnomy concept in 2003; the Hy-wire concept in 2003; the Sequel CUV in 2005 and the Equinox Fuel Cell in 2007. GM has filed more fuel cell patents between 2002 and 2012 than any other automaker, and, as of July 2013, has entered into a cooperative agreement with Honda to develop fuel cell technology for future vehicles. Should these eventually overcome the obstacles standing between development and launch, perhaps the Electrovan will be remembered as the fuel cell vehicle that started it all.