Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has given Nissan Motor approval to begin public road testing and leasing of its latest high-pressure, hydrogen-powered X-Trail fuel cell vehicle (FCV).

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This new FCV sport utility, based on the successful petrol and diesel-powered model line Nissan sells worldwide, is powered by an in-house-developed fuel cell stack that is about 60% smaller compared with the stack on the previous 2003 model.


Despite its compact size, the new stack has a power generation capacity of 90kW, an improvement of more than 40% compared with the 2003 stack, giving the new FCV a top speed of 150 km/h (about 95mph). The 2003 model has a top speed of 145 km/h (about 90mph).


The FCV is also equipped with a compact, 35MPa high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinder whose capacity has been reduced by 15%. However, thanks to a more improved fuel cell system, the FCV’s cruising range has been expanded to more than 370km (around 230 miles) compared with 350km or so for the old model.


Separately, Nissan said it had also developed an X-Trail FCV equipped with a 70MPa high-pressure hydrogen storage cylinder and a cruising range of more than 500 km (300 miles), about 1.4 times that of the 2005 model.

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The automaker plans to test the vehicle on public roads in Canada in February 2006 and in other locations when compatible hydrogen stations are available.


Nissan has been working on FCV development since 1996. In addition to design and engineering work in Japan, testing and development has been conducted in other markets, most notably the United States, where Nissan is a member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP).


Nissan FCV activities in the US have focused on testing and demonstration work since 2000.


Rival Toyota also sees the United States as a key market for fuel economy-enhancing technology. The US was the first export market to get the petrol-electric Prius hybrid (in 2000), three years after its Japanese domestic market debut.


Graeme Roberts