Alternative fuel nothing new

In these days of Volts, Leafs and Prius it is easy to forget that the world's car makers have been down the alternative fuel source path before, stating all the way back at the dawn of the automobile era with steam and electric powered cars. 

In the fifties and sixties General Motors (GM) and Chrysler invested tens of millions of dollars in turbine powered cars, which they said could use any liquid fuel, from kerosene to Chanel Number 5 to tequila. In 1964 Chrysler built and gave 50 turbine cars to families across the USA for a two year experiment.

The cars were styled by Chrysler's design chief, Elwood Engel. He'd just been headhunted from Ford, so it's no coincidence the Chryslers looked a lot like the 1961 Thunderbird's Engel had drawn at Ford. Chrysler insiders called the cars "Engelbirds." At the conclusion of the trial all but nine were destroyed.

Although it looks like a normal GMC Handivan it is anything but. It was the brainchild of Dr. Craig Marks who headed up most of General Motors' advanced engineering projects. Marks, and a staff of 250, developed the Electrovan for over 2 years before attaining a drivable vehicle. 

The Electrovan used a fuel cell which was fuelled by both super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Most of the Electrovan's cargo space was taken up by the hydrogen (red), oxygen (green), and fire retardant (black) tanks. Yikes!! 

The five kW fuel cell was able to propel the GM Electrovan at speeds of up to 100kph. Because of safety concerns, the Electrovan was only used on GM test tracks, where it had several mishaps. Like the time the hydrogen tank exploded sending pieces up half a kilometre. No one was injured, but they sure needed those fire retardant tanks. 

After the Electrovan was built, tested and shown off to journalists the project was terminated because it was so cost-prohibitive and there was absolutely no supporting hydrogen fuel supply infrastructure in place at that time. For years the Electrovan was banished to a warehouse in Detroit, avoiding the crusher on several occasions. Then it was transported to the General Motors Heritage Centre near Detroit where it now resides alongside the first Chevy Volt ever built.

www.retroautos.com.au