KIA DRIVING FORWARD ON FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY

More and more, car companies are making new and exciting advancements in green technology. Kia is out there with the leaders of the pack, and has committed to plans furthering the alternative-fuel mission in the coming years. One of the facets of this commitment relates to the mass production of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) by the year 2015.

Fuel cell electric vehicles are not the headline-snatcher that hybrid and plug-in electric cars have been up to this point but Kia is one of seven major auto makers that plan on changing this in the future. Kia actually began testing fuel-cell-powered autos back in 2003 with a concept Kia Sportage variant. Since this first foray, creative and driven minds have worked to solve some of the major hurdles in safety, reliability and range a FCEV can offer. The result is a car that will travel 400 miles on a tank of hydrogen and a Kia Borrego FCEV that achieves 54 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent).

The real challenge still at large is the need for mass production methods to get the extra fixed costs in the supply chain down. As mentioned earlier, the Korean automaker joined a consortium of others with a promise to increase output of FCEV autos at a higher volume in a few short years. Kia specifically has plans to produce 10,000 FCEV models by 2015 and ramp to 100,000 soon thereafter. These efforts should supply the boost fuel cell models need to become a mainstream product in the rapidly-evolving auto world.

Can you see a Kia FCEV cruising around the Burlington and Plattsburgh area come 2015? At this point in time, details surrounding the introduction of such models are vague. Likely the automaker will begin testing in Europe first.

Finding fuel-efficiency and quality eco-friendly vehicles doesn’t have to wait until 2015. Our new Kia inventory has plenty of highly-efficient vehicles available for your inspection today. Swing by 586 Marshall Ave in Williston, VT with any questions.