We last featured the Volkswagen Up! in our Frankfurt Motor Show wrap-up, but in the fast-paced field of green automotives, there’s some new news to report. It’s now known as the Volkswagen Space Up! and has gone from being a small, fuel-efficient car to a zero-emission, fuel-cell powered, solar-assisted compact car. Sadly, it is still a concept.
Shown at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the battery-powered car uses a high temperature fuel cell and an array of lithium-ion batteries. To recharge the vehicle, one can plug it into an electrical outlet or fill the fuel cell with hydrogen to recharge it. If that weren’t enough, a large solar panel has been integrated into the roof of the vehicle, which feeds the electricity right back into the battery of the vehicle.
It seems that Volkswagen is betting their future on smaller and lighter vehicles. Here’s hoping that we see one of these soon.
+ Hello to the Volkswagen Space Up!
At what point will the solar accumulation be applied to a hydrogen source to produce more for the fuel cell?, instead of directly charging the battery alone.
This is actually a lot closer to production than concept and VW could actually have them on the road within 2 years if they saw sufficient interest. They also could put a small fuel-efficient gas or diesel engine in this and have them on the road in less than a year. Sign me Up!