Learning to drive with hydrogen

Driving school cars traditionally have diesel engines. A company from Saarbrücken uses a hydrogen drive for its driving lessons. The technology can also be tricky for schoolchildren.

From Peter Sauer, SR It is a bit reminiscent of a sauna infusion when driving instructor Rouven Klein from Saarbrücken parks his new driving school car. Instead of exhaust fumes, a lot of steam rises and a little water drips. Together with Sven Schmitt, Klein has a real rarity at the start of their driving school voovoo drive: a driving school car that is powered not by diesel or gasoline, but by hydrogen. “We work very closely with the manufacturers of hydrogen vehicles. As far as we know, we are probably the first driving school in the world to have retrofitted such a vehicle,” says Klein. There are no really reliable figures yet. The Federal Association of German Driving School Companies is not yet aware of any hydrogen driving school cars. But they support the advance from Saarbrücken. The driving school completely dispenses with internal combustion engines and instead relies exclusively on bio natural gas, electric drive – and hydrogen. “This sustainable approach is very important to us, and someone has to start with it,” says Schmitt.

Conversion turns out to be difficult

Fuel cell vehicles are still rare. For around 60,000 euros, voovoo drive bought one of the few available models – one Toyota Mirai. Indispensable for every driving school car: the pedals on the passenger side so that the teacher can intervene in an emergency. In the case of combustion engines, a linkage usually connects the pedals. It is installed in the middle between the driver and passenger compartment. The problem: One of the three hydrogen tanks is right there. In this case, some pioneering work was necessary. After a long search, they found a company in Germany that took on the complicated installation of the pedals, explains Klein: “Fortunately, the company has agreed to carry out this exciting experiment – and it worked. We now have one operated with a cable Driving school car. ”

Fast acceleration

Driving school cars traditionally have a diesel engine. It is robust, long-lasting and also suits the students very well when it comes to coupling at the beginning. But a change is also taking place in driving schools. Because for the target group – mainly teenagers – the topic of sustainability is of enormous importance, as the “Fridays for Future” movement has shown. An emission-free hydrogen drive is well received by young people like Adrian Bredebusch. Bredebusch has also driven a diesel on the practice area. As one of the first learner drivers, he is now learning with the new hydrogen vehicle. Bredebusch describes the driving experience as “pleasant gliding”. But there are also pitfalls, because in contrast to internal combustion engines, which only develop their full power with increasing speed, fuel cells have full power from the start. “It accelerates really fast, and you also have no audio feedback on how fast you are driving. You have to keep looking at the speedometer,” says the learner driver. Like hybrids and e-vehicles, the hydrogen car also has an automatic transmission. This is pleasant for novice drivers and probably also the form that will prevail in the medium term. The legislature has now also recognized this. For a long time the test was only possible with a classic gear shift. “Fortunately, since April 1st there has also been the option of more or less combining or adding this switching training”, explains driving instructor Schmitt. This means that the students can now take their exams with automatic vehicles without any restrictions.