“A vision becomes reality.” With these words, Nunzio La Vecchia presented the new QUANT e-Sportlimousine during the press day of the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.
The world premiere of the first automobile with a nanoFLOWCELL powertrain aroused great international media interest. This highly anticipated, revolutionary powertrain technology and energy-storage system can give new impetus to the field of electric mobility.
“The QUANT e-Sportlimousine is a research vehicle for road testing innovative energy storage systems, focusing especially on development and improvements in flow cell battery technology,” according to Nunzio La Vecchia, Technical Director of nanoFLOWCELL AG.
“The QUANT e-Sportlimousine is neither a show car, nor a concept car. It is the first automobile to be fitted with the nanoFLOWCELL that is also designed from the ground up to meet all homologation requirements,” La Vecchia explains the direction of the intensive research and development work undertaken to produce the first prototype during the last few years.
How the nanoFLOWCELL works
Flow cells combine aspects of electrochemical accumulator cells with those of fuel cells. Liquid electrolytes are kept in two tanks and circulated through the cell. At the heart of the system, a membrane separates the two electrolytic solutions, but allows electrical charge to pass through and thereby produce power for the drive train.
Advantages of the nanoFLOWCELL
“The advantages of the nanoFLOWCELL lie in its high charge density, high performance density, and its light weight compared to conventional energy storage systems. Furthermore, it contains no harmful substances, no moving parts, and it is very efficient,” explains Nunzio La Vecchia.
The nanoFLOWCELL was conceived and is under active development at the nanoFLOWCELL DigiLab simulation lab at nanoFLOWCELL AG in Zurich, Switzerland. The results are very promising: At a nominal voltage of 600 V and 50 A nominal current the system is achieving an impressive continuous output of 30 kW. The nanoFLOWCELL has a 5-times greater performance-by-weight than current lithium-ion technologies that power most of today’s electrical vehicles, meaning its driving range is 5-times greater than a conventional unit of the same weight.
The new QUANT e-Sportlimousine
Elegant, sporty and with an extraordinary design that underscores the special character of this car as the platform for a revolutionary new powertrain technology – this is the QUANT e-Sportlimousine in its world premiere at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. With its length of more than 5.25 metres and a width of more than 2.2 metres and a height of 1.35 metres, the QUANT e-Sportlimousine makes a bold statement in terms of its dimensions and proportions.
The interior stands out with some unusual highlights: The two rows of seats, one behind the other in jet-cockpit style, accentuate the carbon fibre monocoque construction. The prototype presented in Geneva also won a lot of fans for its paint colour, “chrystal lake blue” developed exclusively for this vehicle, which reflects the character of the powertrain. The blue represents water; copper highlights, the flowing of electricity.
Another distinctive feature of the new QUANT e-Sportlimousine are its wooden operating controls. The new sensorFLOW technology provides a visual highlight never seen before in automobile control elements. At first glance, you only seen the natural, smooth ash wood surfaces. Once the QUANT e-Sportlimousine is activated, the control elements become visible through the natural wood. “The wood surfaces are so thin that a light touch of the finger on the sensorFLOW icons triggers the appropriate action,” enthuses development lead Nunzio La Vecchia, “This innovation allows us use a sustainable material like wood to give you a direct connection to the digital control systems.”
The interior also features modern display technology more than 1.25 metres wide and 16 centimetres tall, the front display gives this car that widescreen cinema feeling. The QUANT e-Sportlimousine’s complete infotainment system is implemented in an Android-based system. The new QUANTmobile App allows the driver to access the QUANT e-Sportlimousine’s climate and infotainment controls from outside the vehicle. Driving statistics and navigation functions are also accessible from a smartphone.
The next public presentation of the QUANT e-Sportlimousine will be April 17 to 20 at the nanoFLOWCELL AG stand at Top Marques Monaco 2014.
TECHNICAL DATA:
DRIVE TRAIN
– all-wheel drive via 4 three-phase induction motors,
– torque vectoring for optimal drive torque distribution
– peak power: 680 KW (925 PS); 170 KW (231.2 PS) x 4
– operating power: 480 KW (653 PS); 120 KW (163.2 PS) x 4
– peak-torque per wheel: 2,900 NM x 4
nanoFLOWCELL
– nominal voltage: 600 V
– nominal current: 50 A
– tank capacity: 2 x 200 L
PERFORMANCE
– 0 – 100 KM/H: 2.8 S
– top speed: 380 + KM/H
– range: projected 400 to 600 KM
– energy consumption: 20 KWH/100 KM
DIMENSION AND WEIGHT
– kerb weight with full tanks: 2,300 KG
– wheelbase: 3,198 MM
– width: 2,019 MM
– length: 5,257 MM
– height: 1,357 MM
– door system: two double wing-safety-doors
– door openings: 865 MM x 2,068 MM
– side window: 400 MM x 1,830 MM
WHEEL AND TYRES
– front: 245 x 30 R22″
– rear: 285 x 30-22″
– rolling resistance optimised
BODY
– body type: monocoque
– seats: four, front and rear adjustable[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
