The Morgan LIFEcar (''LI''ghtweight ''F''uel ''E''fficient ''Car'') was originally a
fuel cell-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 ch ...
project undertaken by
Morgan Motor Company and startup company
Riversimple. 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, 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 player ...
, 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 g ...
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 c ...
. 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
*
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
*
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 ...
*
Riversimple
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)
{{Morgan Motor Company
Hydrogen cars
Fuel cell vehicles
LIFEcar
Cars introduced in 2009
Retro-style automobiles