Volkswagen Space Up Blue

Volkwagen presented the space up! blue concept car at the Los Angeles Auto Show (November 14-25, 2007) as a world exclusive - a compact, self-confident zero emissions van in the style of the legendary Volkswagen Samba Bus. On board: the world's first high temperature fuel cell and an array of twelve lithium-ion batteries. When the electric motor (45 kW / 61 PS) of the space up! blue is driven exclusively by battery, a range of 65 miles is possible - enough to handle nearly all distances in downtown areas. In the scenario of tomorrow's world, the four-seat Volks­wagen is advancing to become the ideal vehicle for anyone who wants to drive - completely emissions-free - to work, recreation, school or university or just shopping.

While fifty years ago a boxer engine in the rear provided the propulsive force, in the new concept car it is an electric motor. This motor outputs 45 kW / 61 PS, turns at up to 10,000 times per minute and generates a maximum torque of 120 Newton-meter. The zero-emissions drive draws its power from an array of twelve lithium-ion batteries with a total energy capacity of twelve kilowatt-hours (kWh). Motorized in this way, the space up! blue attains a top speed of 75 mph. It handles the sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) in a dynamic 13.7 seconds.
Exclusively driven by battery, the motor powers the space up! blue over a range of 65 miles. By comparison: a hybrid car in pure electric drive mode - i.e. with energy stored in the battery - can travel just two kilometers (1.24 miles) on average. The combustion engine must kick in again before this distance is driven. Consequently, the space up! blue represents a conceptual approach, reaching beyond hybrid technology, for operating the auto­mobile by just battery, especially in urban areas. However, a prerequisite for this technology are durable and affordable lithium-ion batteries with a high charge capacities. With their help, transportation could become "electrified" - i.e. converted from combustion engines to electric motors - in a stepwise manner, initially in the big cities. The infrastructure needed for this is simple: electrical outlets! Step by step, public and private parking spaces and parking garages would have to be equipped with "electric service pumps" to offer charging capabilities. At night, vehicles like the space up! blue could take advantage of nighttime rates for electrical power - which are often much lower in many countries - to "fill up their tanks". The fact is: today the space up! blue concept car could already handle average daily driving distances in pure battery mode - without a fuel cell.

The high temperature fuel cell, meanwhile, could enable completely emission-free driving over long distances. The high temperature fuel cell develops a power of twelve kW to spur on the electric motor.
The fuel cell utilizes hydrogen (H2) to obtain electrical energy. Two safety tanks integrated in the underbody store up to 3.3 kilograms of compressed hydrogen. This quantity is enough to operate the electric motor over a distance of 155 miles. With fully charged battery and full hydrogen tanks, the theoretical range is a full 220 miles. So theoretically, even an excursion from the Los Angeles Auto Show to picturesque Santa Barbara and back would be feasible without an energy recharge. These are distances that demonstrate how cars with electric motors plus fuel cell are capable of more than just city driving.

Aside from the fact that hydrogen would have to be produced in sufficient quantities by regenerative energy, there is another serious problem: All fuel cells known to date - that is low temperature fuel cells - need to operate over a very specific temperature range. If the temperature rises too much, energy recovery is brought to a standstill. That is why all of these fuel cell designs have relatively large and likewise complex cooling and humidification technologies.

This is precisely where the high temperature fuel cell developed by Volkswagen comes in. It eliminates the numerous disadvantages of previously known low temperature fuel cells (LTFCs). A new high-temperature membrane and electrodes specially designed for this membrane enable significantly more compact, affordable and efficient fuel cell systems, as shown on the space up! blue concept car in Los Angeles.

Working together with its custom designed electrodes, the high-temperature membrane can be "driven" over a tempe­rature range of up to 160 degrees Celsius. An average operating temperature of 120°C is planned for vehicle operation. And indeed without requiring supplemental humidification. Therefore - in contrast to the LTFC - it is sufficient to implement a much simpler cooling and water management system. This reduces space requirements, weight and costs significantly!

Like the city specialist, the up!, already presented at the IAA in Frankfurt and the space up! shown in Tokyo, the space up! blue is a small space wonder too. Over a length of just 144.9 inches, a height of 61.8 inches and a width of 64.2 inch, it offers the space of a considerably larger vehicle. The clever space concept of the space up! blue - which is 1,090 "light" despite the fuel cell and batteries - is largely due to the powertrain layout: the car's emissions-free electric motor operates - as did the engines of the Beetle and Bulli (Microbus) at one time - in the rear. Also housed in the rear are the lithium-ion batteries. The high-temperature fuel cell, on the other hand, was integrated in the front of the car.

The space up! blue is a full-fledged four-seater that is extremely comfortable, even on long trips. The reason: The cushions of the four seats - for driver, front and rear passengers - consist of an airflow foam that automatically adapts to individual anatomies. In addition, the seating position is pleasantly high, making it extremely comfortable. Despite the extensive powertrain equipment, no compromises are made in the amount of space offered compared to versions with "normal" internal combustion engines: interior height (measured between the seat surface and car headliner) is 40.6 inches in front and 40 inches in the rear.

With the exception of the driver's seat, all seats can also be folded and removed. If the seats are "only" folded, this creates a level cargo area with a capacity of up to 1,005 liters. With four people on board, cargo capacity up to the height of the window sill is still 220 liters.

Volkswagen is introducing the space up! blue as the third model variant of the "New Small Family". A common design philosophy unifies the up! concept car presented at the IAA in Germany, the space up! shown in Japan and the space up! blue. It is characterized by a simple, clear language of forms. The designers consciously omitted any superfluous gimmicks. As a result, the space up! blue also exhibits a completely new harmony between technical layout, on the one hand, and emotional design on the other.

Front end: Distinguishing the front end of the "New Small Family" are the headlamps that take an inward diagonal line, between them the horizontally integrated air inlets (minimized aperture optimizes aerodynamics), the VW logo arranged on the front hood (as the only exterior detail kept in chrome) and the smooth-surfaced bumper with a lower segment.

Side profile: On its sides, the concept car - like the Samba bus in earlier days - exhibits a long extended window section, additional roof windows and a clearly distinctive, powerful C-pillar whose form is typical of Volkswagen. The A-pillar is positioned far forward.

The space between the A and C pillars is spanned by the line of butterfly doors with opposing hinges. Both the front and rear doors are opened by door handles at the height of the imaginary B pillars. Since the doors open in opposition and extend across nearly the entire space between the wheel housings - i.e. the entire sill length - all four seating positions are exceptionally convenient to access. A key concept here is wheel housings: Hidden under them are the self-confident and large 18-inch wheels with low rolling resistance tires sized 165/50.

Distinctive in this area are the short front and rear overhangs. The front overhang, from the axle hub to the outer skin of the bumper measures just 53 centimeters; in the rear it is 59 centimeters. The result: crisp proportions.

Rear end: Also unmistakable are the design features of the rear end. Take the example of the rear door: It fills out practically the entire car area above the bumper. Similar to the smaller up!, the door - split 1/3 to 2/3 - consists of a transparent material. Integrated beneath it are the taillights. Fully opened, the door offers a cargo width of 101 centimeters. The bumper itself was designed to match its counterpart at the front end.

Thanks to the wide track width of 1.42 meters (55.9 inches), the outer edges of the wheels line up with the wheel housings. The effect is that the entire vehicle width of 1.63 meters seems to consist of axles plus tires and wheels. Meanwhile, the only details that boldly jump outside of the vehicle width are the round-shaped outside mirrors.