Audi unveils hydrogen-powered H-Tron Concept

If we were to guess, the realisation of this concept shouldn’t be far away either, knowing that we’ve already had the opportunity to drive fully functioning fuel cell cars like the Audi A7 h-tron Sportback a year ago.

The fuel cell, which is housed in the engine bay, provides 100kW of power, while a battery pack provides a 100kW boost to the electric motors, with one mounted on each axle. Drive itself comes from electric motors on each axle – the front with an output of 90kW and 140kW on the rear one.

The Audi h-tron Quattro SUV is capable of accelerating from zero to 100kmph in barely 7 seconds.

The h-tron quattro is said to offer a range of 372 miles on a tank of hydrogen, and can be refuelled in four minutes.

Audi isn’t the only company working on hydrogen technology. So, if you don’t like the idea of even more “screen time”… perhaps this isn’t the vehicle for you. The technology study showcases the four-ringed brand’s latest developments in the world of electric cars that turn hydrogen into electric power.

With 13.2 lbs of hydrogen on board spread among three tanks, the h-tron has enough juice to travel up to 373 miles on a single fill up.

This week at the Detroit Auto Show, Audi unveiled the hydrogen-powered follow up called the h-tron quattro.

The A4 Allroad is positioned as an alternative to dedicated crossovers, providing 17.8 cubic feet of storage space in the luggage compartment. Although it’s not saying yet, Audi is likely planning a production h-tron model for the future, too.

All-in-all, the h-tron makes a total of 550 Nm of system torque.

With an efficiency rating in excess of 60 percent, Audi claims that the fuel cell now surpasses any combustion engine. All information gathered from the sensors is processed by a central driver assistance system (zFAS).

Audi says it will be taking this technology into production for the first time ever in 2017, with the next generation of its A8 Saloon.

The use of piloted driving technologies allows the h-tron quattro to build a real-time map of its surroundings, allowing the vehicle to assume driving tasks in stop-and-go traffic at speeds of up to 60km/h.