New Hybrid Technology on Display in Geneva

By now, you've noticed that I like to jump on technological issues as they come floating down the news stream. The reason is simple: This stuff is what we'll all be driving in 10 years, and I want driving to stay fun.

Really, I don't have any commitment to gasoline, as long as there's some around to power my classic cars. The next new car I buy could run on fresh air, sunshine, and daisies for all I care, so long as it's fast and handles well.

This year's Geneva Auto Show seems to be where every company in the world is announcing advances in a couple of key areas: diesel performance and lithium-ion battery technology. Sometimes together in one package. The diesel-electric hybrid idea dates back to the early 20th century, and in fact, most railroad locomotives still use a diesel-electric combination of powerplants. It's likely that your next  sports car will use a turbo-diesel in combination with an electric motor to get you off the line fast and  maintain a healthy top speed. Which is fine with me - my big-ass rattle-can pickup truck turns mid-15s on the strip. 

So we keep a finger on the pulse of the new technology around DrivingSports HQ. Here's the latest, a new hydrogen fuel cell car from the Italians:

Pininfarina unveiled its new concept car, the Sintesi, featuring Nuvera's Quadrivium(TM) drive, at the Geneva Motor Show today in Geneva, Switzerland.

      

The Sintesi is powered by Nuvera's Quadrivium drive, which incorporates world-leading hydrogen generation technology with state-of-the-art fuel cells in four distributed wheel power modules. This diversion from traditional drive trains gave Pininfarina the freedom to design the car with the passenger in mind rather than the engine, resulting in a highly stylized car of the future.

"It has been a great pleasure for Pininfarina to work with Nuvera on the Sintesi project," commented Andrea Pininfarina, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pininfarina. "We hope that this collaboration can be repeated in the future."

      

Quadrivium drive is based on Nuvera's Andromeda(TM) fuel cell and STAR(TM) hydrogen generator technologies, which together offer higher efficiency as compared to an internal combustion engine.

      

"Nuvera was honored to have been chosen by Pininfarina to work with them on this cutting edge project," commented Bill Mitchell, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "When faced with the ambitious challenge of making a high performance power train using ecologically benign technology, Nuvera engineers changed direction away from conventional technologies and embraced a radical new fuel cell concept."

       For more information on the Sintesi, log on to: www.sintesi.pininfarina.com.