The Chevrolet Sequel is a purpose-built

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

and

sport utility vehicle A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...

from

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

, employing the then latest generation of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...

technology. The Sequel's

powertrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

includes an electronic control unit and a fourth-generation version of GM's

fuel-cell stack The Glossary of fuel cell terms lists the definitions of many terms used within the fuel cell industry. The terms in this fuel cell glossary may be used by fuel cell industry associations, in education material and fuel cell codes and standards to ...

. The Sequel became the basis for the design of the gas-powered

Chevrolet Traverse The Chevrolet Traverse is a full-size crossover SUV with three-row seating built by General Motors. It is built on the same platform as the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave, known as the Lambda platform for first generation, and the C1XX for seco ...

, which was the replacement for the Uplander

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe i ...

Characteristics

The Sequel's fuel-cell stack has a rated power output of , supplemented by a

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

pack rated at . One electric motor drives the front wheels, and individual wheel-motors (outboard of the rear brakes) drive each rear wheel, providing total tractive power of . The Sequel stores of gaseous hydrogen in three cylindrical, carbon-composite fuel tanks, pressurized to and mounted longitudinally beneath the cabin floor. As a result, the range of the vehicle is more than . The Sequel is just short of five metres long (4,994 mm, 196.1 in.), on a similarly long (3,040 mm, 119.7 in.) wheelbase in order to accommodate the extremely long fuel tanks.

Possible production

GM made no commitment to building the Sequel. However, GM vice-chairman Bob Lutz has said he would push the company's strategy board to approve full production of a fuel-cell vehicle by 2011

model year The model year (sometimes abbreviated "MY") is a method of describing the version of a product which has been produced over multiple years. The model year may or may not be the same as the calendar year in which the product was manufactured. ...

. Due to the extremely high cost of fuel cells, GM opted to instead build several hydrogen-powered

Chevrolet Equinox The Chevrolet Equinox is a series of crossover SUVs from Chevrolet introduced in 2004 for the 2005 model year. It replaces the North American Chevrolet Tracker and Chevrolet S-10 Blazer. The third-generation Equinox also replaced the first-ge ...

-based vehicles as testbeds. It then decided to change its direction of alternative-fueled vehicles, and unveiled the concept

Volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...

in 2008, followed by the production version in 2010. As of October 2006, GM has built two Sequels.

References

External links

CHEVROLET SEQUEL 300-MILE ZERO EMISSIONS FUEL CELL DRIVE
* Fahey, J. "GM's wild gamble." In ''Forbes'' #175, 25 April 2005, pp. 78–83.

{{Chevrolet vehicles Crossover sport utility vehicles Fuel cell vehicles Hybrid electric cars Hydrogen cars

Sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

Characteristics

Possible production

See also

References

External links