Ford Aims for Hydrogen Land Speed Record with Fuel Cell Fusion
 

While many are pointing to hydrogen as the future of the automobile, awareness for this alternative fuel is needed. Sure, Brad Pitt's appearance at the Ocean's Thirteen premiere in a BMW Hydrogen7 helps, as does Chevrolet and Honda's approach of lending fuel cell vehicles to certain stars for their everyday use, but one surefire way of getting peoples' attention is through setting a record. Ford wants to help change peoples' minds about hydrogen fuel by creating a land speed record car with performance at its very core.

Teaming up with its fuel cell partner Ballard and Ohio State University, Ford is preparing what's called the Hydrogen 999, a vehicle that will compete for the title of world's fastest hydrogen-powered car in the production-based unlimited class for fuel cell vehicles at the Bonneville Salt Flats next month. Rick Byrnes, a veteran Bonneville racer and retired Ford employee, will drive Hydrogen 999. At the same time, Ohio State University will compete for the title with a vehicle of its own called Buckeye Bullet 2, which was developed by the universityand several Ford engineers.

Gerhard Schmidt, VP of Research and Development Engineering for Ford says, ???Racing is a part of Ford Motor Company's DNA so it seemed only natural for us to build a fuel cell race car that runs on hydrogen, a fuel that could someday play a key role in meeting the energy needs of the transportation sector.??? Schmidt added, ???Our goal in attempting this record is to further expand our technological horizons with fuel cell powered vehicles.???

The Hydrogen 999 is powered by a 770-horsepower electric motor supplied by OSU, while the fuel cell that feeds the engine is from Ballard. Ford chose to use its midsize sedan, the Fusion, to house these components for this land speed record attempt. While the Fusion isn't the***iest car Ford makes (we'd have to say the Ford GT is, but it's now out of production), this one's going to be fast. In order to best the previous record set by OSU in 2004, the hydrogen fuel cell Fusion is going to need to top 315 mph.

Ford has put a lot of time and effort into modifying the Fusion for this purpose, and many of the vehicle's changes involve making a regular midsize sedan as aerodynamically efficient as possible. By removing the side-view mirrors, body moldings and even filling in its grille, Ford engineers reduced the car's coefficient of drag by 0.13 cd, from 0.34 to 0.21. Once the design was completed, the Fusion was fabricated, complete with regulation safety equipment by Roush, a brand best known for its high-performance tuned Mustangs.

We'll see how the Hydrogen 999 does on the Bonneville Salt Flats next month.

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