Low-Voltage EV Proves Durability in Zurich Testing

A low-voltage electric sports car passes the 62,000-mile (100,000-km) test milestone without needing major service.

Specialist automaker nanoFlowcell sees its Quantino 48V break the barrier while driving in downtown Zurich with the vehicle’s advanced self-diagnosis system still not ready to enter “maintenance” mode.

The car is running real-world trials to showcase the technology as a cleaner, greener and less-costly alternative to lithium-ion-powered battery-electric vehicles. Its technology employs a cell membrane with six cells arranged in series to operate low-voltage motors. The system uses two fuel tanks of electrolytic fluids, one with a positive charge and the other with a negative. This flow-cell technology is a combination of battery and fuel-cell power fed by an electrolyte liquid called bi-ION, which mainly consists of water.

The company says after its engineers succeeded in achieving variable control of the energy supply from the flow cell, they were able to dispense with the heavy and costly supercapacitors (supercaps) that previously served as buffer storage for the drive energy.

With this leaner architecture, nanoFlowcell claims the system currently is not only the most environmentally friendly EV drivetrain but also the inherently safest, most compact, powerful and cost-effective electric-drive technology now offered by the automotive industry.

“We had hoped that the nanoFlowcell would reach the 100,000-km mark without going into maintenance mode, but when this really happened we were absolutely delighted with the resilience of the nanoFlowcell,” says Nunzio La Vecchia, CEO of nanoFlowcell Holdings. “Current test analyses confirm our confidence and it is with complete assurance that we are giving a guarantee of 50,000 operating hours on the nanoFlowcell hardware. That equates to a theoretical running distance in an electric car of 2.5 million km (1.55 million miles).”

The nanoFlowcell 48V flow-cell system in the Quantino incorporates three membranes along which the bi-ION electric liquid can be guided in order to react with one another. The continuous output of the installed flow cell system is 80 to 90 kW. Via a DC/DC transformer, the flow cell supplies a constant feed of controllable low-voltage energy directly to the 107-hp electric motor. This is enough power to accelerate the Quantino 48V from 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in about five seconds and enables it to maintain a top speed of 124 mph (200 km/h).

NanoFlowcell says it is the only research institute in Europe specializing in the R&D of modern flow cells.