Electric
The NamX HUV is a car fuelled by removable hydrogen capsules
For Pininfarina to come to this year’s Paris Motor Show with a brace of zero-emissions cars is something you likely expected. But just how one of the cars achieves it is something you probably didn’t.
NamX – a Franco-Moroccan outfit we’re frankly astonished you haven’t heard of already – has tasked Pininfarina with all that pencils and clay models malarkey for its big idea: a 300bhp fuel cell vehicle with a fixed hydrogen tank, as well as six removable and replaceable hydrogen ‘capsules’.
So equipped, the NamX HUV can apparently manage 500 miles before needing a fresh hit of gas. No word on how much of that is delivered by the replaceable tanks or, by extension, whether the onboard tank acts as a kind of fuel reserve to get you that last few miles to the gas bottle swap station.
Let’s look at the reasoning behind swappable gas bottles. If memory serves, the big selling point of hydrogen is that you could fill up your tank in the same manner – and in the same time frame – as a petrol, diesel or LPG-powered car.
And if the compressed/chilled hydrogen is delivered via truck (as one would expect, given the cost and difficulty of pipelines), then what’s the difference between filling one big tank at the refilling station and delivering a bunch of little bottles? The answer is something that comes a bit more easily to farmers and those living a long way from city centres: you get your fuel delivered to your house. So, just like big LPG bottles for the stove and diesel for the tractor, NamX gon’ deliver to ya.
It’s such a simple solution, and one that – like the other big selling points of hydrogen – is largely down to how well it integrates with systems and processes we already know and use. Fuel still gets delivered, gas bottles still get swapped, and the new car/tractor/quad bike still runs – albeit a sight more quietly.
For companies to persist with hydrogen fuel cells is something we’ve rather come to expect. But just how NamX is planning to get it done is something we didn’t.
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Keyword: Pininfarina’s other Paris debut runs on removable hydrogen ‘capsules’