Silicon Valley
Driving Charged & Connected 2013
Palo Alto, California

Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected
Sponsored by Silicon Valley Leadership Group and SAP
Palo Alto, California


Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected

All Car Central was invited to sit in on the speakers sessions and have a go at driving some plug-in electric and fuel-cell cars. So We did.

The day was filed with several discussion groups covering transportation and the alternate EV movement. In motivation there were basically 2 concepts being presented. All electric and the Hydrogen fuel-cell power. The storage battery driving electric drive motors is the simpler concept of the 2 so I sat in on the fuel-cell discussion that was delivered by;

Steve Eckhardt, Program Manager, Hydrogen Fueling/Alternative Energy, The Linde Group; Ronald Grasman, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc. Mat McClory, principal Engineer, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, with Catherine Dunwoody, Executive Director, California Fuel Cell Partnership, moderating.

 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected

The main course of this presentation was covering the development of the infrastructure, Steve Eckhardt, The Linde Group; and the progress of the car manufactures in developing fuel-cell cars for the general public, Ronald Grasman, Mercedes-Benz and Mat McClory, Toyota Motors. The take-away for me was the obvious fact that, in the US as of early 2013, this is really early stage development. That is not to say the concept or even hardware is still being developed, everyone is past that point. But getting the whole assembly of fuelling stations setup and establishing a substantial volume of fuel-cell vehicles out on the road is just starting.

 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected

It was very clear also that this is a worldwide effort. Also at no point did I hear the word "OIL". Natural gas, wind and solar generated electricity are the underlying external power sources that are used in the production of Hydrogen. One of the most interesting points for me was, with wind turbines, nighttime is an excess generating period and some turbines are powered off. However if they were call on to use low-draw-period-excess-energy to produce Hydrogen then that would be a net gain with very little increase in infrastructure and become electrical-storage.


 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected

The assembly of fuelling stations across the country/globe is a matter of time, money and politics. It is mostly developed and proven. Even though the vehicle fuel-cell concept is reasonably established and proven, there are still some development challenges to be resolved. Most notably, packaging. That is; the present cell/battery layout does not readily 'fit' existing vehicles. Therefore a standard platform cannot be run down the assembly line and alternately receive an external or fuel-cell drive system. This adds to the cost of production. Once the fuel-cell is refined to fit within existing vehicle layouts and Hydrogen 'fuel pumps' are available side by side the gasoline/diesel pumps on the street corner, the streets should start to have F-cell cars in large numbers.

The projected date for Fuel-Cell cars arriving on the US market is between 2015 and 2017. Currently Mercedes-Benz is running fuel-cell cars in the US in 'fleets'. One other point that was of interest was the comment that the actual fuel-cell is capable of a long operating life.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

I did not get to drive the Toyota but did get to watch the dash display showing when the drive motors were getting their electrical input from the onboard battery or Fuel-cell and how when the car was coasting the motors were re-generating the battery. These cars are governed by a highly programmed computer that manages the power systems to the highest degree. Hence that is why we are at California's Silicon Valley. The birth place of the modern computer.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

This BMW E-Drive was a prototype car for a rental market. This model will be replace by production-designed car. As a plug-in battery car it was interesting in a few ways. One; it was a standard gas powered vehicle chassis modified with electric drive motors and battery.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

This gave the inside of the car its overall familiar look and feel. Interestingly, it was quite light and responsive to drive. The quickest of the few that I did get to drive. I presume that as a 'city' rental the lightness came from its smaller and lighter battery, as its range was about 80 miles.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

The Honda FCX Clarity was one of the more striking cars available, almost over shadowing the famed Tesla S all electric car, which was fully booked before I arrived at the driving lot. My associate drove the Honda and ranked it high along with the Nissan Leaf on her scale of pleasurable cars to drive.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013 Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Another popular car in the pool was the Mercedes Benz F-Cell. This car was Hydrogen Fuel-cell powered car and had been doing test runs all day by the time I reached it. The handler agreed to give me a try at it but only a short drive as he had not had time to make the out-of-the-way run to the refueling station in Berkeley prior to arriving at the event, and given the length of drive back to Berkeley, the only current source of hydrogen in the San Francisco bay Area, . . . Well you see the problem.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

The Mercedes Benz F-Cell was easy to drive, as were all the cars. Present the key/device push a button, move a lever and press on the right peddel. The car moves. No sound.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Mercedes Benz cars that I have driven have always impressed me with their silky steering feel. But this car had a much different personality. Turing in the driveway the wheel fought the turn and wanted to go straight. On the road the steering was heavy. Pick-up was good as was the over all driving.

One cannot really say much negative about cars made after the year 2000. The primary purpose of these meet and drive events is to create some interest in getting the EVs on the road. But that needs to be an easy choice for a buyer.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Lifting the hood exposes bits and parts that make up the power system, but the motors, Fuel-cells and batteries are all out of sight. Not available for the likes of us mere non-engineering mortals.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Not available for running up and down the road this day was the all-electric 2014 Fiat 500E. Said to have about an 80 Mile range and able to do 0-60mph under 9 sec. costs around $32,000 US

Lad
click here Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

One of the stars of the show was the scarce Tesla S. The waiting line was closed out and with only 1 car to drive, I gave up and looked forward to the open house event at the Tesla facilities just down the road.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

One revealing display was the power/frame assembly of the Tesla Roadster.

Lad
click here Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Can you see yourself going down the road at 100 mph seated in this?

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

The starting point for the Tesla Roadster was a Lotus.

Lad
Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

I finally got up close to a Tesla S. This car is large and up close, holds onto its reputation as a very beautiful car.

Lad
click here Silicon Valley Driving Charged and Connected 2013

Very Interesting



BACK TO TOP