Oorja's fuel cell breakthrough promises 400-mile range electric cars

California-based fuel cell specialists Oorja Protonics has this week unveiled new technology which it claims could extend the range of electric vehicles to more than 400 miles.

The company currently offers trickle-charge onboard batteries for material-handling vehicles such as forklift trucks. However, the company is confident that its latest liquid methanol fuel cell will allow it to break into the long-haul truck and plug-in car sector.

The new cell, OorjaPac Model 1, has a power output of 4.5W and is 50 times more powerful than rival technology, the company claims.

The offering comprises an 11-gallon fuel tank full of methanol, which is produced from natural gas, gases generated from landfill and biomass waste. It enables vehicles to run for 16 hours after each refuelling of the tank as a result of proprietary changes to the proton exchange membrane contained in the unit.

While the fuel cells are unable to power vehicles themselves, they ensure that their batteries are never fully discharged or end up being heat-damaged during the recharging process. This reduces the labour and equipment costs associated with swapping out batteries.

The company said that with operating costs of $0.18 (£0.11) per kilowatt hour, Model 1 is also competitively priced against expensive Lithium-ion battery packs that are currently used in most electric vehicles.

"Until now, our revenue has come from industrial applications such as forklifts and warehouse fleets, but we're now edging close to the automotive market," Sanjiv Malhotra, the firm’s chief executive, told VentureBeat.com. "At best, battery-powered vehicles have a range of 100 to 150 miles – this could take it to two or three times that."

He added that the supplier would initially target its new product at the long-haul truck market, but would also evaluate the potential of using it in plug-in sedans and sports cars as the sector starts to grow over the next couple of years.

Oorja was set up in 2006 and started selling commercial products two years later. It has raised $21.5m in financing to date from Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, Artis Capital Management, McKenna Management, Northshore Partners and Spring Ventures.