Since 2007, the General Motors has been testing a fleet of fuel cell vehicles. The Chevrolet Equinox is a specially equipped vehicle launched in 2007 which was a key part of General Motors 119 vehicle Project Driveway and to date this fuel cell test fleet has covered about 3 million miles compared to other automakers. According to the GM’s calculations they saved about 157,894 gallons of gasoline means they saved about $552,631 in fuel cost. As part of the Project Driveway, the GM operated the 100,000 mile Fuel Cell Equinox as a fleet vehicle at the Walt Disney studio, Burbank. After the completion of the Project Driveway, the vehicle then became an engineering development model and has been driven by 10 skilled and experienced GM engineers.
Todd Goldstein, the GM’s Advanced Technology Demonstration program, said, “The Fuel Cell Equinox is an attention-getter everywhere I go. The people who ask me about it are very enthusiastic about the technology.”
Todd Goldstein was behind the of the fuel cell and after completing 100,000 miles on its odometer, the vehicle was then routinely driven by the senior project engineer between the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, outlying communities of Oxnard, Victorville, San Diego, Santa Clarita and Palm Springs. The GM is the market leader in fuel cell technology and Clean Energy Patent Growth Index ranked this brand No.1 between 2002 and 2012. For the completion of future fuel cells, the GM is currently developing a new fuel cell development Laboratory in Pontiac, Mich.
The executive director of the GM’s global fuel cell engineering activities, Charlie Freese said, “We believe hydrogen fuel cell technology holds tremendous potential to one day help reduce our dependence on petroleum. The resilience of our test fleet and new research partnerships are helping us reach this goal.”