Future Car Receives Fuel Cell

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REF: 2-11-11-98
CONTACT: Eric Wesley, [email protected]

FUTURE CAR RECEIVES FUEL CELL

LUBBOCK -- Texas Tech University's FutureCar Research is receiving an energy boost from Energy Partners, Inc. of West Palm Beach, Fla. The company is donating a hydrogen-powered fuel cell that Texas Tech will install in a Chevrolet Lumina when the cell arrives the first week of December.

The fuel cell is designed to replace the car's internal combustion system with hopes of producing fewer objectionable emissions that pollute the environment. Texas Tech also hopes to design a super fuel-efficient vehicle capable of doubling existing fuel economy. Research in this FutureCar may someday find itself in production automobiles.

Funded by the Department of Energy, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech University are the only two universities in the United States to create a hybrid electric car that uses a fuel cell as an alternative to the internal combustion engine. In June, Texas Tech was one of 13 universities from across the country to compete in the 10-day FutureCar Competition in Detroit, Mich.

For more information, please contact Darrell Vines, professor of electrical engineering, at 742-1262.

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