This news release was issued by Nissan North America on April 18 (10:00 PST).
April 19, 2001
Tokyo -- Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it will launch driving tests of the Xterra FCV, a direct-hydrogen-fueled fuel cell vehicle, on public roads this month, based at a facility in Sacramento, California in the United States.
This testing program is based on a plan that was announced last November at the grand opening ceremony of the headquarters facility of the California Fuel Cell Partnership* (CaFCP). Nissan has previously conducted driving tests of a methanol-reformer FCV at its in-house testing facilities. The Xterra FCV is Nissan's first direct-hydrogen-fueled FCV to be test-driven on public roads.
Direct-Hydrogen-Fueled Fuel Cell Vehicle Xterra FCV
There are two major objectives of these public road tests.
(1) To accumulate experience through driving on public roads with an FCV that is close to a production vehicle and to reflect the test results in future R&D work.
(2) To advance studies concerning the technical standards and infrastructure of the fuel supply system for FCVs by using the CaFCP's hydrogen fueling station facility and feeding back the test results for joint use by the other members of the Partnership.
The Xterra FCV is a high-efficiency hybrid FCV fitted with a neodymium magnet synchronous traction motor and a compact, high-performance lithium-ion battery pack.
These technologies have already been commercialized in the Altra EV, Hypermini EV and the Tino Hybrid, a hybrid gasoline-fueled electric vehicle.
Because of their outstanding fuel efficiency and zero-emission potential, Nissan believes that fuel cells will be a mainstream motive power source for vehicles in the future. Nissan plans to push ahead with R&D efforts to develop vehicles fitted with high-efficiency fuel cells, based on existing EV and HEV technologies.
*California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP)
The Partnership comprises vehicle manufacturers, fuel cell companies, U.S. federal and state government agencies and other members and has the following four main goals:
1. To demonstrate FCV technology through day-to-day use of FCVs under real-world conditions in California.
2. To demonstrate the viability of alternative-fuel infrastructure technology, including hydrogen and methanol fueling stations.
3. To examine and resolve various issues involved in the commercialization of FCVs.
4. To increase public awareness of FCVs and to prepare for their commercialization.
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