The Morgan LIFEcar (''LI''ghtweight ''F''uel ''E''fficient ''Car'') was originally a
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 ...
-powered
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
project undertaken by
Morgan Motor Company
The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer owned by Italian investment group Investindustrial. It was founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan.
Morgan is based in Malvern Link, an area of Malvern, and employs appr ...
and startup company
Riversimple
Riversimple is a United Kingdom-based car manufacturer of hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). It is based in Llandrindod Wells, a town in Wales, where there is a research & development centre and the company's offices. Riversim ...
. The goal of LIFEcar was a sports car that would be environmentally responsible, and deliver impressive performance. Research and development was backed by
QinetiQ, a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
defence technology firm, as well as several universities, including
Cranfield University
, mottoeng = After clouds light
, established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name)
, type = Public research uni ...
and the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, and government grants.
The project abandoned the fuel-cell architecture in favour of a hybrid approach with a 15-mile electric range.
Specifications
According to news releases, the LIFEcar chassis is to be based on the powerful
Morgan Aero 8
The Morgan Aero 8 is a sports car built by Morgan Motor Company at its factory in Malvern Link, England (an area of Malvern in Worcestershire).
The Aero 8 shape evolved in the traditional Morgan way of form follows function and the main playe ...
, while the
Proton exchange membrane
A proton-exchange membrane, or polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while acting as an electronic insulator and reactant barrier, e.g. to oxygen and hydrogen ...
fuel cell itself is being developed by
QinetiQ. The vehicle is planned to make use of
electric motors powering each wheel (similar to the
Whispering Wheel concept). In order to deliver sufficient bursts of power to the motors, the electricity generated by the fuel cell will be stored in sophisticated
capacitors
A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals.
The effect of a ...
. Morgan may make use of its past business ties with
BMW in order to obtain liquid hydrogen storage technology, although this remains to be seen. The design of the vehicle platform was led by Mark Reeves, with aid from his team at Morgan.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Hydrogen economy
The hydrogen economy is using hydrogen to decarbonize economic sectors which are hard to electrify, essentially, the "hard-to-abate" sectors such as cement, steel, long-haul transport etc. In order to phase out fossil fuels and limit climate ch ...
*
F-Cell
*
Honda FCX The Honda FCX (commonly referred to as ''Fuel Cell eXperimental'') is a family of hydrogen fuel cell automobiles manufactured by Honda.
As of March 2007, there are more than twenty Honda FCX vehicles in the hands of customers, including the state ...
*
Venturi Fetish
Venturi may refer to:
*Venturi (surname)
Technology
*Venturi tube
*Ejector venturi scrubber, a wet scrubber
*Venturi effect, a fluid or air flow effect
*Venturi mask, a medical device
*Venturi meter, a device for measuring the flow rate of flui ...
*
Riversimple
Riversimple is a United Kingdom-based car manufacturer of hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). It is based in Llandrindod Wells, a town in Wales, where there is a research & development centre and the company's offices. Riversim ...
References
* https://web.archive.org/web/20070929043116/http://www.qinetiq.co.uk/home/newsroom/news_releases_homepage/2005/2nd_quarter/lifecar_project.html%3Cbr%3Ehttp%3A//www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C2087-1660080%2C00.html
* http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/06/morgan_at_work_.html
External links
Morgan LIFEcar Official Page(
Riversimple
Riversimple is a United Kingdom-based car manufacturer of hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). It is based in Llandrindod Wells, a town in Wales, where there is a research & development centre and the company's offices. Riversim ...
)
{{Morgan Motor Company
Hydrogen cars
Fuel cell vehicles
LIFEcar
Cars introduced in 2009
Retro-style automobiles