World's first car built around the fuel cell

22 January 2002: At the Detroit Motor Show General Motors unveiled the AUTOnomy, the world’s first concept vehicle built around a fuel cell drive system and free from the confines of traditional automotive architecture.

Up to now, fuel cell systems have been integrated into production vehicles. AUTOnomy is the first vehicle designed from the ground up around this type of technology and the first to combine fuel cells with drive-by-wire functionality, which allows steering, braking and other vehicle systems to be controlled electronically instead of mechanically.

All of the AUTOnomy´s essential systems, including the fuel cell stack and on-board hydrogen storage system, are neatly packaged in a new type of chassis. This universal "skateboard" chassis simplifies manufacturing and service and allows for the construction of a wide variety of vehicles with very short development cycles.

The key design feature of AUTOnomy´s electrical system is a connection, or "docking port", at the center of the "skateboard" chassis. The docking port creates a quick and foolproof way to connect all the body systems – controls, power and heating – to the rolling chassis, thus making the vehicle body light and uncomplicated.With all of its propulsion and control systems contained within the six-inch-thick chassis, the vehicle body is freed from traditional design requirements.

There is no need to design around exhaust, steering and braking systems. Drivers would not have to sit in the traditional left-hand location. They could move to the center of the vehicle, or much closer to the front bumper, or further back. This freedom from conventional configurations should lead to the development of customized bodies that are easy to switch. Customers could even lease multiple bodies and exchange them depending on their needs.

January 2002