DRIVEN Hydrogen fuel-cell Ineos Grenadier
Prototype shows its potential as an alternative way to zero emissions
IF it wasn’t for the ‘hydrogen’ graphics plastered over the bodywork, you’d be hard-pressed to tell there’s anything unusual about this Grenadier. But the oversized bonnet bulge provides a clue, and the whirring drivetrain is an instant giveaway that you’re listening to a car powered by electricity.
However, this is not a car you plug in overnight, because to match the range and performance on offer from the hydrogen fuel cell it’s equipped with, you’d require a battery that would add an extra 500kg to this car’s 2,700kg. The fuel-cell EV (FCEV) matches petrol and diesel performance – and refuelling times – without adding weight.
Don’t get your hopes up just yet, though, because you can currently count the number of hydrogen filling stations in the UK on the fingers of one hand.
Until that’s sorted, any FCEV passenger cars remain a pipe-dream here, albeit one that’s increasingly realistic in terms of the maturing technology. We drove a BMW iX5 FCEV last year that’s to all intents and purposes production-ready, and the Grenadier, although still clearly a development hack, uses the same core hardware to good effect.
There’s a 115kW fuel cell stack shoehorned under the bonnet, a battery sitting in the boot (production variants would stow the battery under the boot floor), and three electric motors. A single motor drives a basically standard locking differential on the front axle, while two motors take care of business at the back end, driving half-shafts that lie alongside a beam axle – a set-up that project engineering chief Pamela Amann describes as a De Dion axle variation
Between the chassis rails, twin carbon-fibre hydrogen tanks hold 2kg of gas each, but that would be upped to 6 or 8kg to deliver a 300-mile range.
With no mechanical diffs, the FCEV Grenadier relies on tech for functions such as hill descent control, via the brakes and a level of battery re-gen that produces enough retardation for one-pedal driving. Amann controls the systems via a remote touchscreen in the prototype, but a steering wheel paddle system is more likely for production.
There’s no doubting the ability of the FCEV, which handled an extreme 60 per cent slope with aplomb in our short test, while the EV power delivery was arguably even more impressive than the already smooth response of the BMW-powered production variants.
The silence of most of the powertrain highlighted a whine from the front diff that’s usually masked by engine noise. But Amann confirmed they’d done no work on refinement. That will come on the journey to production, but for now the signs are that a Grenadier FCEV will have a similarly unflappable and capable character as its ICE siblings.
“The fuel-cell EV matches petrol and diesel pace – and refuelling time – without adding weight”