General Motors committed to building the world’s largest fuel cell vehicle fleet this weekend by announcing its next-generation fuel cell vehicle – the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell. GM will build more than 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles and will begin placing them with customers in the fall of 2007, as part of a comprehensive deployment plan dubbed “Project Driveway.” A variety of drivers – in differing driving environments – will operate these vehicles and refuel with hydrogen in three geographic areas: California, the New York metropolitan area and Washington D.C. The crossover includes all the standard safety features of the regular Equinox and will operate in sub-zero conditions.
“The Equinox Fuel Cell is a real-world vehicle with real-world performance,” said Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager. “The fuel cell technology is seamlessly integrated into a uniquely styled crossover vehicle that is distinctively Chevrolet. The Equinox Fuel Cell joins Chevrolet’s family of advanced gas-saving and alternative fuel vehicles.”
“General Motors is demonstrating its commitment to hydrogen fuel cells as the answer for taking the automobile out of the environmental debate and reducing our dependence on petroleum,” said Larry Burns, GM vice president, research & development and strategic planning. “The Equinox Fuel Cell is powered by GM’s most advanced fuel cell propulsion system to date, and demonstrates an important milestone on our pathway to automotive-competitive fuel cell propulsion technology development.”
09/18, 9:37 AM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Awesome, GM!
09/18, 9:41 AM
posted by:
A4
torrent headlights with an uplander grille, looks better than the current gas equinox
09/18, 9:49 AM
posted by:
Richard
Excellent!
09/18, 10:33 AM
posted by:
JD from Detroit
I’m waiting for someone to rip it because it’s not a Toyota. I’ll bet it’s got low-quality interior materials, too…
[/sarcasm]
09/18, 11:17 AM
posted by:
DaveO
Funny, was just thinking I like the current Equinox face better.
09/18, 11:39 AM
posted by:
specialk1098
Are they going to use new face for the reglular Equinox? I think it resembles the new tahoe.
09/18, 12:23 PM
posted by:
Veda
Hopefully they’ll follow it by really making it mainstream rather than what seems like a PR stunt. Go GM!
[no really...]
09/18, 1:04 PM
posted by:
Scott Kempton
Veda–I seriously doubt that GM (EVEN GM) can make it mainstream yet. There is no infrastructure in place to support it yet (how many hydrogen refueling stations have YOU seen?). So I’m sure that the purpose of these 100 vehicles is to gather real-world driving impressions, and to see what goes wrong with them. But I am really impressed that GM is taking the lead in at least attempting to wean us from fossil fuel-burning vehicles. $3/gallon gas sucks, doesn’t it?
09/18, 4:47 PM
posted by:
LamborghiniZ
specialk1098, the front end on this Equinox is a 100% clone of the front end on the Torrent, which is in turn a clone of the Equinox. The front ends of these two cars were one of the very few differentiating aspects between the two vehicles, other than the respective “chevy” and “pontiac” badges. Too bad they’re both basically terrible suv’s.
09/18, 5:07 PM
posted by:
John Landers
this thing is ugly.
09/19, 7:50 PM
posted by:
chevy490
shut up john thats not the point!!
09/20, 10:33 PM
posted by:
GarbageMotorsCo
“Project driveway”??? wtf kind of a campaign is that?
Shouldn’t it be “Project service bay”?
09/30, 9:46 AM
posted by:
shesellschevys
This sort of advancement and recognition is extremely important for GM. Having a Canadian-built vehicle that the public can recognize as being a little “outside the box” is important for the company’s overall reputation. This vehicle was originally designed in Oshawa and is now built at the Cami plant in Ingersol Ontario. It is reassuring for those of us who live in “GM neighbourhoods” that this type of forward thinking is now becoming a reality. I must agree with the above posts… the “Tor-Ox” is a little on the scary side to look at… what I see are Torrent lights/hood and almost an “Uplander” grille!