Morgan LifeCar sustains British Motor Show interest

Featuring regenerative braking technology, ultra-capacitors to release energy for bursts of acceleration and fuel cells that can turn hydrogen into raw electricity with water being the only emission, the New Morgan LifeCar showcases a heck of a lot of daring from one of car manufacturing’s traditionalists.

Handed chunks of cash by the Department of Trade and Industry to spearhead a UK bid to develop alternative and sustainable automotive power sources for the next generation, Morgan might seem the unlikely benefactor of such a charitable act – awarded to implement radical thinking - given its historically, well, historical appeal.

To many, Morgan rattle cars out of a glorified potting shed in Malvern, Worcestershire at a rate of two a year, are driven by those with an impressive ‘tache, bifocal driving goggles and neatly-folded tartan travel rugs, and all look like they were built in 1937.

More than a fractional oversight of the truth, the Morgan LifeCar is therefore going to blow a disbelieving percentage of the UK car buying public’s perceptions of the essentially British sports car manufacturer to smithereens.

And that’s because the Morgan LifeCar prototype is as thoroughly modern – in terms of components, engineering and technology as well as simply to feast your eyes upon – as your iPod nano.

Not only has it received funding by the British government, but Oxford and Cranfield universities, an environmental research company and a defence technology firm all help oversee the project.

You see, drawing on the expertise at its disposal, Morgan has wholeheartedly gone down the fuel cell route, embracing electric motors and hydrogen as means to get by in a lightweight, two-seater surround that doesn’t compromise its sportiness, yet forms a viable basis for zero-emissions tolerances.

Morgan Aero 8 provides LifeCar template

Based on a Morgan Aero 8, the LifeCar prototype is a £1.9 million-funded fuel-cell powered, hydrogen-fuelled electric sports vehicle that uses fuel cell technology that converts hydrogen into electricity, with H20 being the sole by-product.

The four fuel cell batteries are located beneath the long bonnet, and when utilised at once generate 30bhp, which is then metered out to all four wheels courtesy of four individual electric motors that govern each wheel.

To claw back energies disposed of, the Morgan LifeCar then harnesses the braking force applied to the vehicle, and therein ploughs electricity back into super-capacitators housed in the transmission tunnel.

50% of braking energies is collected via this system, some 40% more than a Toyota Prius manages. The 1,000 amps garnered by this action are in turn used to boost the LifeCar’s acceleration.

Sub-7 seconds 0 – 62mph is quite the achievement, and a top speed of 100mph – in short, adrenalin-packed bursts – is worth blowing the commercial trumpet about. The Morgan LifeCar has a 200 mile range of operation before you need to seek some hydrogen flavoured refreshments at the roadside too.

You can see from the image what it looks like on the exterior – pretty damn hot, yet cool at the same time. Naturally, being Morgan, and resolutely British, the LifeCar uses plywood – albeit of the veneered ash variety – on the insides, predominantly around the dash and seating areas, as opposed to the de rigueur that is carbon fibre, which Morgan argues turns out to be lighter.

It does however rely on contemporary carbon fibre and lightweight aluminium component themes to address its outer body framework issues, that outline the LifeCar’s 600kg kerb weight.