4.4.2005
Victory for HydroGen3 fuel-cell vehicle at “Monte” debut

The HydroGen3 took first place in the fuel cell class at the “Rallye Monte Carlo Fuel Cell and Hybrid”. In the overall standings, the hydrogen-powered Opel Zafira was third, following two hybrid cars. A total of 13 vehicles participated in the Rallye, including five fuel-cell cars.

The fuel-cell Zafira left the grid in Lugano, Switzerland at 9.09 a.m. on Saturday morning (April 2) and reached the finish line in Monte Carlo, Monaco within the target time at 16.44 p.m. after having covered at total of 417 kilometers. The demanding route had three legs and passed through Switzerland, Italy and France before ending in the principality. Average speed was around 80 km/h, which is quite impressive considering the many cities driven trough and all the serpentines along the way.

At the wheel of the hydrogen-powered Zafira was Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Formula One World Championship runner-up in 1997, three-time Formula One Grand Prix winner and current Opel works team driver in the German Touring Car Championship.

The HydroGen3 was refueled with minus 253° Celsius liquid hydrogen, using a mobile filling station supplied by Linde, as scheduled at km 159.2 near Turin, Italy, and at km 320 just before the Col de Tende, on the Italian-French border.

The five-seat HydroGen3 is powered by a 60 kW/82 hp three-phase asynchronous motor. The required electrical energy is produced by a fuel-cell stack comprising a total of 200 individual cells connected in series. With its almost noiseless propulsion system, this front-wheel-drive vehicle accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in around 16 seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 160 km/h.