China's hydrogen fuel-cell cars run on US freeways

Sixteen hydrogen fuel cell Passat Lingyu cars, which were independently developed by China, were recently brought to the US to carry out six months of road testing and demonstration runs.

The cars have a top speed of 150 kilometers per hour, and will run for 300 kilometers once fully charged with hydrogen. They completed a 70 day pilot run during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, and have traveled a total of nearly 80,000 kilometers.

The fuel cell operation demonstration project carried out in California on this occasion was held by California Fuel Cell Partnership Program, and was jointly sponsored by automobile enterprises, energy companies, fuel cell technology companies and governmental organizations.

The fuel cell cars were modeled on the Passat Lingyu produced by Shanghai Volkswagen, and fitted with a new-generation fuel cell power system jointly researched and developed by Shanghai Fuel Cell Vehicle Powertrain Co., Ltd., Tongji University and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).

The aim of the project is to set an example in actively coping with global climate change. The members of California Fuel Cell Partnership Program include Ford, Honda, GM, Toyota and Volkswagen amongst others.