Opel reinvents the plug-in hybrid, and in what way! Instead of combustion engines, it uses fuel cells. This is the Vivaro-e Hydrogen, and we have already tried it
The fuel cells in the Opel Vivaro-e Hydrogen are backed up by an externally rechargeable battery. That has never happened before. In this way, one offsets the disadvantage of one concept with the advantage of the other and is emission-free on the road. Short haul, slow charge? The hydrogen unit can help here. Isn’t there an H2 filling station nearby? The battery can take you there.
The technology
This Opel is based on the Vivaro-e with electric drive. A PEM fuel cell goes under the front hood, and instead of the battery pack there are now three high-pressure tanks in the floor of the vehicle, which together can hold 4.4kg of hydrogen.
According to the WLTP protocol, the amount is sufficient for an electric range of about 350 kilometers. A 10.5 kWh battery pack is housed under the seat, absorbing peak loads on the one hand and providing an additional 50 kilometers of range on the other.
Almost more important than the range (even a conventional Vivaro-e can cover up to 200 miles), it’s basically the shorter refueling stops compared to pure electric.
Hydrogen tanks fill in three minutes, saving valuable time on the daily job. The battery can be fully charged with a maximum of 11 kW in around 90 minutes and is powered by regenerative braking.
Another plus point: Thanks to the clever bodywork, the load volume of up to 6.1 cubic meters is maintained, as is the payload and towing capacity of one tonne each.
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If you drink do not drive, but if you are not sure if you can do it, it is better to take care of your health with a test before starting.
Behaviour
Basically, it runs like a normal Vivaro-e. On the one hand, this includes the problem that the 100 kW (136 PS) and 260 Nm of torque have against the roughly two-tonne curb weight of the shorter version we drive.
However, it requires a short 15 seconds to go from 0 to 100 and it is not difficult to reach its top of 110 km / h. But recovery should work better and above all single pedal driving is not possible.
On the other hand, it has very good chassis and steering tuning, as well as a fairly car-like driving experience. This unusual fuel cell plug-in hybrid did not emit any strange noises, jerks or other indecencies.
You only realize you’re actually driving a hydrogen car at the gas station, when you quietly drive away again after only a few minutes.
The completely finished Vivaro-e’s come straight off the assembly line, are gutted again at Opel Special Vehicles in Rüsselsheim and equipped with the new drive technology. Up to 20 examples are built per week, including sister models from Citroën and Peugeot. The Vivaro-e Hydrogen is currently still a kind of big test lab for collecting customer feedback.
Will this new vehicle concept catch on? We believe that it can work, at least in delivery traffic, where saving time and autonomy are key and the vehicles have enough space for this type of driving.
The Stellantis group apparently also thinks the same. By 2025, they want to sell up to 10,000 units per year and also install this drive unit in larger vans and vans.