Great Potential For Opel's Fuel Cell Technology In China 
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The World's Most Populous Country Is Looking For New Forms Of Mobility 
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Opel's "Hydrogen1"

Photo: Opel/GM
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Beijing/Rüsselsheim - The Opel HydroGen1 - a hydrogen-fueled engineering study - attracted great attention among Chinese government officials, journalists and scientists during a four-day symposium on fuel cell technology. The workshop held in the Chinese capital of Beijing attracted around 300 participants, mainly from China but also from Japan, Korea, Singapore and India. The road-going prototype and the advanced fuel-cell technology developed by Opel and General Motors was rated as a significant impulse for the development of an energy strategy for the 21st century in China. The world's most populous country aims to avoid the extensive use of fossil energy as far as possible in the development and expansion of its mobility.  

The HydroGen1 concept, based on the successful Zafira compact van, would be a feasible way to achieve this target. Workshop participants had the opportunity to experience the prototype's advanced technology during test drives. The engineering study is driven by a 55 kW/75 hp three-phase electric motor that gives it a top speed of 140 km/h. The necessary electric energy is generated by a hydrogen-powered fuel-cell stack. The range of this full five-seater is around 400 kilometers. The HydroGen1's zero-emission fuel cell was developed by the 300 specialists working at the Global Alternative Propulsion Center (GAPC), which was founded by Opel and GM in 1998 and has locations in Germany and the USA. With this prototype the world's largest automobile manufacturer emphasizes its leading position in the development of fuel-cell vehicles and also its determination to introduce cars with this environmentally compatible and resource-conserving technology at affordable prices. 

(November 6, 2000)