F-Cell Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Acceleration and top speed aside, one major limitation of the fuel cell A-Class is its range. The two hydrogen tanks mounted under the rear seats only hold enough gas for 93 miles of motoring. The A-Class isn't your typical prototype vehicle either, where function is usually more important that form and parts are glued or cable-tied into place. It's been built as if it's a proper production model. Open the bonnet and all the cabling is tidy and additional components such as the air-conditioning unit have been purpose-built, not bodged to fit. The A-Class is eerily quiet and FCVs power delivery quite smooth, however, and while motivated by an altogether foreign mechanical device is about as user friendly as I could have hoped for. This is mostly due to a fairly conventional cockpit, at least conventional as far as A-Class models go. The car is not imported by Mercedes-Benz U.S.A., at least not yet, which is a shame as I think it would probably do very well in some states, such as California. It just might be one of the most effective uses of space in the automotive industry, featuring more front and rear legroom than many cars twice its size, plus a very roomy cargo area accessible via a large hatch opening. To get technical, the entire cars fuel cell system is integrated within the "sandwich" floor of the long-wheelbase A-Class. Its fuel tanks house compressed hydrogen, at 350 bar, and feed them directly to the fuel cell system, giving the F-Cell a cruising range of about 93 miles - hydrogen consumption is equivalent to 4.2 litres (1.1 gallons) of diesel fuel per 100 km (62 miles).