Horizon's H-Cell 2.0 hydrogen fuel cell for R/C cars now shipping (video)
By Tim Stevens 
posted May 25th 2010 9:42AM
posted May 25th 2010 9:42AM
Horizon's Hydrogen Fuel Cells Enter Model RC Hobby Market
SINGAPORE – May 25, 2010. Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies begin shipments of the world's first miniaturized hydrogen fuel cells and refueling stations for use in model hobby radio controlled vehicles. Named "H-Cell 2.0", the unique hobby-scale fuel cell power kit replicates the function of real-scale zero emission hydrogen powertrains being developed by the world's leading automotive manufacturers. The hybrid power kit is also adaptable to other electric vehicles, including robots and boats, greatly extending their normal runtimes.
Radio controlled vehicles are a global multi-billion dollar phenomenon involving specialized clubs, racing events, magazines, and a great variety of models and spare parts that can be purchased at model hobby stores. Built to look like real cars, boats or planes, these fast and technically sophisticated machines are no toys. They are built from the ground up by engineering enthusiasts of all ages, and are typically powered by high performance batteries, miniature combustion engines, miniaturized jet engines, and now - hydrogen fuel cells!
While the scientists and engineers at Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies continue to develop real-scale applications of the technology into the future, commercialization has already begun in smaller-scale applications, including toys, hand held electronics, portable generators, and recreational power devices.
The new H-cell 2.0 fuel cell power kit for model scale RC vehicles is being introduced to global hobby enthusiasts this year, starting in Europe with the upcoming June 17 "Mondial du Modelisme" in Paris. (Hall 3 / Booth E5).
About Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies Pte. Ltd.
Thinking big, yet starting small, Horizon pioneered the sales of next-generation fuel cell power products in small consumer products, while developing larger-scale clean power solutions for practical applications in portable remote power, light-duty transportation and aerospace-defense. With comprehensive technological developments focused on enabling the commercialization of fuel cells Horizon is the first company to bring advanced fuel cell technology out of the laboratories and into the mainstream market. For more information, visit http://www.horizonfuelcell.com
Oh my God, my life is now complete!
@Zylam
I figured something like this would go to important applications like... Handheld tools?
I don't know.
@Failbait like a drill maybe - a motor that can drill up to 60000rpm!! lol
@Zylam How do you refuel it?
@tad604 put more hydrogen in it,
I guess via a gas tap
@HW90
>i guess via a tap
Hydrogen =/= water
What is the fuel? Water or Methane?
Judging from the operating temperature, I will hazard a probable guess that it is methane. Still....
I thought fuel cells are supposed to go on much longer... not just 60 minutes!
This will significantly cut down the green house gas emissions generated by toy cars.
@kilbasar lol, a serious problem indeed
@kilbasar Lol +1
@kilbasar
Or put green technology into the hands of enthusiasts who will take the technology to the next level.
@Ken J Yes, because r/c car fans are at the forefront of next-gen fuel cell scaling.
@kilbasar : Too right. I'm sick of people controlling these damn RC Hummers everywhere, when they could just as easily bind their radio to an RC compact.
remote bombs woooooooo
@annoynimous. To Maul with Proton Cannon refill packs. These Fuel cells are the new Ammunition for the Empire
@annoynimous
Any form of stored energy is some form of bomb
@Ken J more to your point, the gas tank of the average car is much more susceptible to exploding than this or a full scale hydrogen car for that matter
@annoynimous it cant be any more of a bomb than the current LiPo standard we all use today
@WM7betterNOTsuck Especially with all the research GM has put into tanks that deform instead of breaching. Anything with sufficient potential energy to propel a vehicle will explode if you treat it wrong. A huge wind-up spring could rip a crowd of people in half.
Sorry to wax logical there; I meant to say, "blah blah, mini Hindenburg lol, blah blah FUD."
Can I buy 20 of them and power a real car?
@Eric Hoffstetter 20 = 600w which is less than 1 HP... i.e. not even enough for a scooter.
At these weights I calculate 2.2 metric tonnes for 100HP (i.e. enough for a normal car)
750w in a HP * 100 HP = 75,000 / 30W each = 2500 units.
At .89 KG each that weighs in at 2225 KG.
But then obviously this unit has overheads to make it small which wouldn't apply to a scaled up version so the above maths don't really apply and are just a waste of time to even think about.
This is very cool, now your small scale car's battery gets to outlast the batteries in the remote.
this is really cool. Hopefully the price wont be out of reach of an impulse buy... the kid in me really wants to have one. the adult in me says no freakin way for more then $200..
i can see myself going around to parking lots on weekends making obstacle courses with jumps..
"150W Peak power"
Does this mean that once electric cars become the norm we're gonna see vehicles from China and Japan boasting highly unrealistic 500 000 watt Peak Motor Power Output (PMPO) figures?
I'm betting on YES!
@chrisp oh yes! just like the 5 gigapixel camera
@erwin Or the mini Hi-Fi that puts out more PMPO wattage than it could ever draw from a plug.
lol
@chrisp That is the point of calling it peak power. You can draw power from the outlet, charge a capacitor and then discharge it in a split second, the peak power then can be very high. Of course, it can not be sustained. Power is energy divided by time. To increase power you can either increase the energy, or decrease the time.
@stoffer I'm not saying that the rated peak power is unrealistic, but peak power ratings can be abused and grossly exaggerated to lure uneducated consumers. I've seen portable stereo units boasting pmpo's in excess of 50 000 watts. There is NO WAY the on board electronics could ever generate this amount of output, even for a micro second. Likely those figures are some kind of indication of how much power the speakers can handle for a very very short time, think in terms of nanoseconds. The same thing can be done with induction motors used in electric cars.
This is pretty awesome! I use to build and race RC cars when I was younger and the one thing that sucked was the 10 minutes of charge time from the battery. Needed to keep at least 3 batteries on a 15 min rapid charger.
@pvito Yeah I bought like 7 battary packs and 3 chargers so I'd always have one ready to go. Crashes made it an expensive hobby to deal with but they were unavoidable. Even the smallest crash you end up spending $20 to replace a wishbone or shock joint.
@cray RC is an expensive hobby (what hobby is not expensive) but you are not right at all. I race every weekend and hardly ever break parts. The cars are a lot more durable than before and the parts (made in China) are pretty inexpensive. /EndRant
I think this development could be great for the hobby. If they can make it affordable then I am all for it. We currently use LiPo batteries which are not safe but give us incredible power and runtimes. If this fuel cell power can match the power then sign me up.
@EastCoaster I owned a Tamiya Fox and a Losi JRX2 when I was younger and I remembering repairing that thing a lot. I raced with friends and our cars got tangled up many times on the track.
I know hobbies in general cost money, but unlike other hobbies, most of your money goes into maintaining your R/C car. Whether it's upgrades or new body shell or replacing broken parts.
@cray Most of my money goes towards entry fees to race and tires.
is that 45 mph on a human perspective(45 actual miles per hour) or 45mph in the ratios of the car (45 miles per hour in perspective to the car - 1:10)
@FuturismRave
its easy to tell just by watching the video. You did watch it right? It's in real human perspective (as in real 45mph).
@FuturismRave 45 real MPH. I just saw a video of some guys who got an E-Revo just over 91 MPH (tracked by GPS), and when they could get a reading from the Radar Gun, was constantly doing over 80 MPH.
@Abacus no i didnt watch it because my ancient laptop hasnt got enough memory to play such a video, because it will crash. Anyway, thanks for the answer
This is amazing. No description of the solar charging station seen in the images though. This could revolutionize r/c and this is only the 1st generation. Cutting edge power systems are always seen first in the r/c industry and later make their way to power tools and electronics...
@Beckler who knows - maybe solar powered chain-saws or kinetic powered drills(which, if you think about it, could be everlasting since the drill rotating could power the motor which in turn could power the drill and so on), but what i am really waiting for is radio powered mobile phones since radio waves are everywhere around us always
@FuturismRave RFID chips already do that. In principle you could have an RFID phone, but you could probably only send text messages with it and the range would be probably lousy.
I had a TA04 Pro back in the day, the chassis doesn't seemed to have changed much! But 45mph for an hour is definitely a huge step up; I wonder what gearing they are using to get that speed.
@bigcow05
45 is nothing now, you can get a pre-built (RTR) that can reach 70
http://www.traxxas.com/products/electric/rustler3708/trx_rustler.htm
@dblespresso
"for an hour"
Wasn't there a guy who already made something like this but when he wanted to implement it into a real car, he then mysteriously died.... like other inventors that tried to provide clean energy sources that wouldn't cost people money?
@Plazmic Flame
Operatives dispatched
It drives me nuts when people just assume this is clean energy. The hydrogen used to fuel hydrogen fuel cells has to come from somewhere. If it's formed by the electrolysis of water powered by coal, then it really isn't clean. If it's powered by renewable energy sources like solar, then it is. Of course, there are probably other ways to generate hydrogen, but if it involves electricity then we may as well stick to batteries. Battery tech is only going to get better and will probably never be obsolete because it is so integral to our lives. If water is the source of hydrogen for fuel cells, imagine how much of it will have to be drawn from our rivers, lakes, and ground water. Water is a limited resource (unless salt water from the ocean can be used), and right now there are areas in drought, cities with water shortages, and we are using ground water at a faster rate than it is being replenished.
Don't get me wrong, being a conservation biologist I'm all for new clean technology no matter how small the advance, but I'm also a realist and a skeptic, and when something is advertised as 'green' or 'clean' it doesn't mean it entirely is. This even goes for stuff like hydro, solar, and wind energy.
“A proton pack is not a toy.” – Egon Spengler
This is actually really neat because battery packs only last for 10 to 15 minutes and can't immediately be charged after being run. I would like to see if this has enough output to meet the high power demands of an E-Revo or something similar.
That is amazing :)
This would make an excellent rc car bomb. Didn't Clint Eastwood already try this in a movie in the 80's? Dead Pool maybe?