2007 LA Auto Show: VW Space UP Blue

[ Music ] ^M00:00:05 >> As you may know, I'm kind of the hydrogen doubter. These fuel cells and moving hydrogen around the country to fill up gas stations with it just seems a little bit impractical or prickly to me. But this car changes my mind a little bit. This is a Volkswagen Concept called the Space UP Blue. It's an EV electric car powered by 2 sources: either a lithium-ion battery pack or a hydrogen fuel cell. First the fuel cell: they call it a high temperature fuel cell which means it doesn't need to be kept really cool to operate right. It can run warm, which they want to do, therefore there's less cooling apparatus to bulk the car up. Now, onto the battery pack. Charged 2 ways: 1 through a plug in - just plug it in when you get home. The other way is through the roof. That a photo [inaudible] cell that uses the sun to solar trickle charge the battery pack. So bottom line, 65 miles on a pure electric charge. Another 155 come out of the fuel cell. So 220 all in on a full green charge and zero emissions. The layout's interesting. Kind of a VW microbus for the 21st century, and in classic VW style all the motor stuff is in the back as are the driven wheels. It's a concept very clearly, but at least we see a company here starting to connect the dots between the difficulties of hydrogen and the realities of your life and mine. ^M00:01:20 [ Music ]