14 August 2002: GM has today revealed a look at Hy-wire, the world’s first drivable vehicle that combines a hydrogen fuel cell with by-wire technology.

The GM Hy-wire, which will be shown at the Paris Show in September, incorporates the features first envisaged in the AUTOnomy concept vehicle at the 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and the Geneva Motor Show.

Larry Burns (below with the AUTOnomy), GM’s vice president of research and development and planning, says the company has taken the technology as it exists today and packaged it into ‘an innovative drivable vehicle’ comparable in size and weight to today’s luxury automobiles.

In an interview with IrishCar.Com at the last Geneva Show, he had already forecast an earlier bringing to the road of fuel cell vehicles than had been generally anticipated.

"All of the Hy-wire touring sedan’s propulsion and control systems are contained within an 11-inch-thick skateboard-like chassis, maximizing the interior space for five occupants and their cargo,” he now says.

There is no engine to see over, no pedals to operate – merely a single unit called X-drive that is easily set to either a left or right hand driving position.

Engineers at GM’s research facility in Mainz-Kastel, Germany, integrated the fuel-cell propulsion system, which is the same system designed for the HydroGen3 concept (top speed of 160 kph or 97mph), based on an Opel Zafira and shown for the first time at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show. American designers also worked closely with Italian design house Stile Bertone in Turin, where the body was built. The SKF Group, headquartered in Sweden, developed the by-wire technology in the Netherlands and in Italy.

To show off this radically new architecture, the front and rear panels are made of transparent glass. Onlookers can see through the car from front to rear; the liberal use of glass and the absence of a bonnet also provide a greater visual command of the road for the driver. To reinforce this effect even the seat backs are open. There is no post between the front and rear doors, known as a B-pillar. Drivers and passengers have greatly enhanced legroom.

The X-drive, which allows steering, braking and other vehicle systems to be controlled electronically rather than mechanically, provides greater freedom for the driver.

Drivers now have the option to brake and accelerate with either the right or left hand. The driver accelerates by gently twisting either the right or left handgrip, and brakes by squeezing the brake actuator also located on the handgrips. The handgrips glide up and down for steering, somewhat different than today’s vehicles where the steering wheel revolves around a steering column.

The X-drive, which also incorporates an electronic monitor for vital car functions, shuttles easily from side-to-side on a horizontal bar that stretches across the full width of the vehicle.

A single docking port provides the electrical connection between the all-aluminium chassis and the fiberglass body. Mechanically, there are 10 body attachment linkages.

The fuel cell stack, which produces a continuously available power of 94 kilowatts, is installed in the back of the chassis. Most of the chassis is 11-inches thick, tapering to 7 inches at the edges. The electrical motor drives the front wheels and is installed transversely between them. Three cylindrical storage tanks (5,000 psi - pounds per square inch or 350 bars) are located centrally in the chassis.

Hy-wire weighs 1,900 kilograms (4,180 pounds) with 20" tyres in front and 22" in the rear. Putting all technical elements into the chassis provides a low center of gravity, giving the architecture both a high safety and driving dynamics potential. Passive safety requirements will be fulfilled using impact-absorbing elements, so-called crash boxes, at a later stage of development.

GM has more than 30 patents in pending covering business models, technologies and manufacturing processes related to the concept.