With the 3000 km record ride from Berlin to Barcelona, the HYSUN engineers have proven that the new technology works. The fuel-cell light vehicle sets new standards for sustainable automotive development.
 

 
HYSUN3000 is a fully covered one-man recumbent tricycle equipped with modern fuel-cell technology. The heart of its electric propulsion system is a 1.2 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell manufactured by Ballard. Here, hydrogen reacts with oxygen from the air to water. The energy released by this reaction powers two Kasbauer motors from Austria that are located in the back of the vehicle. While braking the electric motors work as generators and charge a super capacitor that serves as additional energy source for continuous or peak power drain for example on hills. At the bottom of the vehicle two hydrogen tanks are located. Each of them holds 0.9 kilograms of pressure gas hydrogen.

A Palm computer in the front allows the rider to view the riding data and control the operation of the electric components. The HYSUN pilots paid special attention to the hydrogen consumption. The goal of the project was to keep it as low as possible. For this reason the original shape of the fully faired vehicle by Aerorider from the Netherlands has been modified. With the help of wind channel tests at DaimlerChrysler, the air resistance cold be reduced to an air drag coefficient of 0.15––about half compared to a small class sedan.
HYSUN3000 weighs 120 kg (without hydrogen and rider) and reaches 80 km/h max speed. The cruising speed on the 3000 km Europe tour was between 30 and 40 km/h depending on the riding conditions.

The Team and its Goals
The 22 members of the HYSUN team are mostly engineers at the German fuel-cell manufacturer Ballard. They spent a lot of their free time to built the high-tech vehicle and prepare for the Europe tour. With the non-commercial project they wanted to prove that the new technology works and give an impact for innovative vehicle development in the future. To reach this ambitions goal, the HYSUN makers were supported by well-known research institutes and sponsors such as DaimlerChrysler as well as by project partner ExtraEnergy.


Berlin to Barcelona on 3.3 kilograms Hydrogen
Tour Report and Photo Gallery


More about HYSUN3000 and Tour Diary at
www.hysun.de



Last updated: October 8, 2004