With electric drive systems being all the rave at the moment, those that want to get ahead of the competition are starting to look into fuel cell technology.
The newest addition to the roster is Suzuki and their partner, Intelligent Energy, that just presented their take on fuel cell units.
Right now, the company which is most likely to bring the first fuel cell powered production car is Toyota, and the product Suzuki and its partner presents is not a direct competitor.
To put things into perspective, the small, compact Gen4 unit developed by Suzuki and Intelligent Energy only develops 4 kW, while the Toyota prototype is estimated at 100 kW.
Considering this, the Gen4 fuel cell unit will be more suited for small, compact vehicles, or better yet, used as range extenders in conventional cars. But under no circumstance will be fit to power a normal size sedan or bigger cars.
“Our new Gen4 fuel cell power unit will help vehicle manufacturers to save space, reduce weight and cost without compromising on performance. By making Gen4 available as a self-contained fuel cell power unit, we are able to offer new and existing customers a simple solution, reducing time to market for a broad range of zero-emission production vehicles without the high cost and risk associated with in-house development”.
