The hydrogen-powered Mercedes-Benz Concept Sprinter F-CELL campervan has been revealed boasting a 530km range.

CAR MAKERS ARE hedging their bets with battery-powered electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered machinery. But, while the infrastructure for the former is booming, the latter is struggling. Despite this, most car execs will tell you that hydrogen is the future and battery-electric vehicles merely a stop-gap.

To that end, Mercedes-Benz has showcased its latest hydrogen concept in the form of the Sprinter F-CELL. Showing off the concept yesterday, Mercedes-Benz said fuel cell technology will eventually make its way into its electric vehicles.

“Looking to the future, Mercedes-Benz will enhance the eDrive@VANs strategy with the fuel cell. The Concept Sprinter F-CELL uses the example of a semi-integrated motorhome to show the full breadth of the characteristic benefits of a fuel cell, from long range to zero-local-emissions mobility. These are characteristics that are also ideally suited to other use cases such as longer courier routes or minibuses in inter-urban operation,” The German car maker said in a statement.

The Sprinter F-CELL combines both battery and fuel cell technology as a plug-in hybrid. With the battery and fuel cell, total output is 147kW and 350Nm of torque. The three tanks in the substructure store a total of 4.5 kilograms of hydrogen and facilitate a range of around 300 kilometres. If a longer range is required, another tank at the rear of the vehicle can be added, lifting the range to as much as 530 kilometres.

The F-CELL is a reworking of the GLC F-CELL which sees a fuel cell stack sit under the bonnet in place of an internal combustion engine. The electric motor and transmission is rear-mounted.

Question: Hydrogen filling stations are as rare as hen’s teeth and M-B hasn’t said whether it’ll put the F-CELL tech into production. Do you think hydrogen-powered vehicles will catch on?

Previous

2019 Toyota Supra to debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Next

First 2018 Ford Ranger Raptor rolls off the line ahead of late July launch

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also