Summary
A high-speed electric motor, gearbox and power inverter (needed to change the fuel cell's DC output into the alternating current that drives the electric motors) sit up front. The fuel cell and hydrogen tanks sit beneath the floor and a 344-volt battery sits above the rear suspension, while each rear wheel is driven by an in-wheel electric motor. It is a neat package that frees up the interior of the vehicle.
The beauty of by-wire technology is the personalization it builds into the system. For example, by calling OnStar or plugging in a PDA, everything from the damping rates and brake pedal feel to the steering's feedback and accelerator pedal sensitivity can be tailored to individual tastes. During the test, an engineer, sitting in the rear, demonstrated the capability by altering the brake pedal's travel and feel from razor sharp to almost mushy and back to normal.The part that's most difficult to get used to is the interior, primarily because it has been stripped of the clutter that fills a conventional car. The dash panel, which resembles a flying buttress, puts a simple digital speedo ahead of the driver and the inevitable man-machine interface in the middle of the car (there is no centre stack). The latter is a little too iDrive-like in its makeup. Aside from giving access to the audio functions and climate controls, it houses several questionable readouts. Hopefully, it will be dumbed down before the Sequel goes into production.See the full content of this document
Extract
Sequel Without Equal
GM fuel cell prototype a harbinger of things to come
By Graeme FletcherLAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. -- When the Autonomy was rolled on stage at the 2002 North American International Auto Show, GM bragged it was going to "reinvent the automobile."Many took the statement with a pinch of sa...See the full content of this document
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