If you thought the hydrogen-powered Honda FCX Clarity Concept and the Mercedes BlueEFFICIENCY are the farthest that car manufacturers have pushed the alternative energy envelope to, the Quant F will make you think again. You see, the nanoFLOWCELL QUANT F, to give it its true name, is powered by an entirely new form of technology, and the claims it is making right now are, frankly, a bit too dubious at first glance. Let’s take a closer look.
First the propulsion system, since it is the reason for all the hullabaloo this admittedly gorgeous car is creating. A bit like its predecessor, the Quant e- Sportlimousine (why do their names sound like the copywriter have a faulty Caps Lock key?), the F is powered by electricity produced from ionic fluids stored in two 250-litre fuel tanks. The team behind the car explains the science in it best: “”Instead of using hydrogen and oxygen as in a conventional fuel cell, we work with two ionic fluids – one with a positive charge and one with a negative charge. We are only in the initial phase of our development work. The fact that we store the energy for our drive in a fluid provides us with enormous advantages over systems employed to date in the field of electric mobility. We can use all the cavities in the vehicle to transport the ionic liquid. As the liquid is neither flammable nor toxic, we believe we are absolutely on the right track with this medium.”
According to the makers, this technology is capable of delivering a brief 2,000 A output from the steady 50 A supply it receives from the flow cell. The net result is the car performing even further off the charts than its predecessor, boasting a peak output (limited duration) of 1,075 hp (802 kW) and a maximum rated voltage of 735 V. in real-world terms, the company claims that the Quant F offers a driving range of up to 805 km, which is quite a significant boost from the 400- to 600-km range it was quoting last year.
That’s a tall order if you look at what Tesla and its ilk has been able to achieve yet with all their investment and smart minds, but nanoFlowcell isn’t deterred.
The only downside here is that the estimated top speed has plummeted from 236 mph (380 km/h) to 186 mph (300 km/h), which is still no small feat for what is, after all, an electric supercar. “I would expressly like to point out that we researchers are not interested here in pumping up PS/kW figures, but rather in realizing what is technically feasible,” Nunzio La Vecchia, the flamboyant Chief Technical Officer at nanoFlowcell AG explains. “For both technical and economic reasons, the rated voltage for normal operation of the Quant F will stand at approximately 400 V in future. This enables efficient and economical driving and means correspondingly greater ranges accompanied by outstanding performance with zero harmful emissions.”
As for such minor details as design and styling, there’s no denying the fact that the Quant F looks extremely gorgeous, despite echoing pretty much the same lines as the Quant E we saw at last year’s geneva Motor Show. The biggest changes here are the red exterior color, bigger mirrors, updated wheels and restyled headlights. Oh, and it still has retained that gullwing doors, so full props there.
According to nanoFlowcell, the Quant F’s exterior is 100 percent compatible with homologation requirements, while the interior is over 90 percent ready for production. Crash testing will be carried out both in Germany as well as the US, and nanoFlowcell has promised that it will have an even better surprise at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.
We will reserve our judgment on this supercar’s claims until we see it in the flesh in a few weeks’ time at the Geneva Motor Show. In the meantime, it doesn’t hurt to feast our eyes on that beautiful bodywork.
