There was a panel discussion at this week's SAE Congress that I couldn't pass up. Titled "Fuel Cell Vehicle Panel: Challenges Remaining for Commercialization," the session was a bit of a brainstorm on just how we might one day drive hydrogen-fueled cars with some of the people who are working quite diligently on the problem today. The panel featured Dr. Massimo Venturi, CTO of NuCellsys GmbH, Germany, Dr. Kev Adjemian, senior principle engineer, Nissan Fuel Cell Laboratory, Michigan, and Dr. James Miller, director, Electrochemical Technology Program, Argonne National Lab (for DOE), Fuel Cell Laboratory, Chicago. The three spoke and answered questions for about 30 minutes. Needless to say, the big problems weren't solved in this half hour, but it was enlightening to hear from another industry panel where things stand today regarding the automobile and the hydrogen economy. Considering that the public's perception of hydrogen fuel is currently defined (for many) as the Hindenberg explosion, there are more than just technological issues to deal with.

Because of the nature of the SAE Congress, I did not have permission to post the audio of this panel. Instead, I've detailed some of what was said and given a few of my own thoughts after the break.

In a back corner of Cobo Hall during the SAE Congress this week, we came upon the Emitec booth featuring the company's line of diesel filters. We spoke with Markus Downey, an application engineer at Emitec, about what makes these filters different from others on the market, and you can listen to our talk by clicking on the audio widget player below.

Emitec produces a partial flow filter (as opposed to a wall flow filter) made of metal and uses a passively regenerated cleaning system. This means that the soot collected from the exhaust is catalytically combusted with NO₂ generated upstream in the engine. Downey explained that the benefit to this system is a more stable operating system, which makes it easier to be retrofitted. The DPFs can be used on large diesel engines (i.e., buses or trucks) or on diesel engines in smaller passenger cars. Some companies, like MAN, use Emitec filters as a first-fit. Downey said that most of the company's testing is done in Europe using ULSD, but he figures that a standardized biodiesel - should such a thing ever be widely available - would not pose a problem for the Emitec filters.



Emitec's press release is pasted after the jump. (UPDATE: updated release)

About a month ago, we spoke with Dr. Prabhakar Patil of Compact Power, Inc. about CPI's lithium-ion battery technology. We didn't want to miss the chance to chat in person during the SAE Congress this week, so we stopped by the CPI booth. The reason most AutoblogGreen readers would be following the fortunes of CPI is the company's work with GM on the Chevy Volt (CPI, along with A123 Systems, are supplying the test battery packs for the Volt. BTW, the Volt/Malibu mules are on the track) but Dr. Patil again mentioned that CPI is working with other, unnamed OEMs. We're anxious to learn more about that.

But let's talk about the battery deal we do know about. Based on the packs currently being tested in the Volt, Dr. Patil estimated that a li-ion battery that could move an electric car 100 miles between charges would weigh about 800 pounds. This is double what the Volt's batteries weigh, but would get you 2.5 times the Volt's EV-only distance, because the Volt's batteries reserve some power for the hybrid operations. Regenerative braking can get you the rest of the way. Considering all the studies that show that most people drive well-under 50 miles a day, carrying around all that extra weight for capacity that won't often get used doesn't make a lot of sense, he said. Patil also sees the benefits of the recent CARB ZEV mandate decision. Give a listen.



In the CPI booth was the company's ER2 racer which was setting speed records back in 2002. The ER2 uses an 11 kWh li-ion battery pack and a 165 kW AC induction motor to go from 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. More details here.

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There are a lot of booths here at the SAE World Congress that's going on in Detroit this week that promote one county or another. Poland's got one. There's a French diesel consortium something or other (will be looking into that tomorrow). And then there's the Mexico booth. This booth happens to be near where a mean-looking G.I. Joe toy vehicle called the HY-DRA is parked on the Cobo Hall floor. Not quite sure if anyone over in the Mexico booth is worried at all.

In any case, the vehicle in the foreground and on display in the gallery below is technically called the Hybrid-Defense Recon Assault. The military ride - built in collaboration with Bluwav, Raytheon, Tuscon Embedded Systems and A123 Systems - uses a 5.1 kWh, 316V lithium-ion battery and four 46 kW hub motors that generate 250 hp. Those numbers are enough to move the beast from 0-60 in six seconds and offer an "All Electric (Stealth) Attack Mode" of 75 mph. The HY-DRA has an all-electric range of just 15.5 miles (25 km) and gets 35 mpg when used in series hybrid mode. Watch out.

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One nice thing about cars destined for expo floors is the fancy paint they sometimes get. The Mahinrda & Mahindra Scorpio hybrid SUV has been given such a treatment, as we discovered at the SAE World Congress in Detroit today. We'll be sitting down with Mahindra later this week to learn more about the introduction of this full parallel hybrid that uses a 30kW electric motor and a 2.3kWh nickel metal hydride battery and should be on sale in the U.S. in 2010. For now, here's what the SUV looks like. Whaddya think?

Ford's Derrick Kuzak

It's interesting how the overall tenor of the presentations and speeches changes depending on which conference, which collection of auto industry people, one attends. You'd think there'd be some consistency, but the reality is that the auto industry is mighty varied. We shine a light on one corner here at ABG, but there's a lot more to what's going on than just green tech.

To wit: the SAE World Congress opened this morning with five speakers in a session titled "Climate for Change." Featuring keynote speaker Frank Klegon, executive vice president of product development for Chrysler and panelists Derrick Kuzak, Ford's global product development group vice president, Timothy Manganello, chairman and CEO of BorgWarner, Edward Mantey, the vice president of engineering design at the Toyota Technical Center and Donald Walker, co-chief executive officer at Magna International, the session was billed as a gathering of minds on how the industry is changing. The sad news for green car fans is that increased fuel efficiency and reduced emissions are not necessarily at the top of everyone's list. I've written up what each of the five speakers said after the jump. There's audio, too.