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Volkswagen Tiguan HyMotion
The Volkswagen Tiguan HyMotion fuel cell vehicle has made its North
American debut. The Tiguan is an upgrade to the Volkswagen
Touran HyMotion that I was able to drive a couple of years back.
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Volkswagen Tiguan HyMotion |
In 2007, the Volkswagen Tiguan HyMotion was shown
at both the Michelin Challenge Bibendum and the Shanghai Motor Show.
The Tiguan HyMotion has an upgraded 4th generation fuel cell and
hybrid battery system with a total output of 100 kw (compared to
85 kw of the Touran).
Also, upgraded in the Tiguan is the 700 bar (10,000 psi) hydrogen
tank as opposed to the Touran's 350 bar (5,000 psi) tank. The high
pressure Kevlar, carbon fiber and aluminum tank accounts for a greater
range of 160 miles compared to 100 miles in the Touran, though quite
anemic compared to other hydrogen vehicles getting ranges over 300
miles.
The Tiguan Hymotion has a top speed of about 93 mph compared to
the Touran's 87 mph and both vehicles can accelerate from 0 to 60
in about 14 seconds. The Tiguan Hymotion uses regenerating braking
to recapture energy and charge the battery and uses engine idle
cutoff to save fuel.
It was time to upgrade the Touran Hymotion, which rolled out in
2004 with a shinier and more technologically advanced vehicle. Perhaps
in the next iteration, VW will figure out how to add more range
to the vehicle to make it more competitive with other hydrogen fuel
cell vehicles currently getting way better mileage.
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