Ford to unveil version of fuel cell Explorer SUV

Ford Motor Co. has developed a fuel cell electric vehicle it says will travel 350 miles between hydrogen fill-ups, farther than any other fuel cell vehicle that’s been publicly shown.

Ford’s experimental hydrogen vehicle, scheduled to be shown for the first time at a media preview Wednesday of the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show, is a modified version of the Explorer sport utility vehicle.

It packs its hydrogen gas fuel in a large storage tank at a pressure of 10,000 pounds per square inch, twice that of most other fuel cell vehicles.

A fuel cell produces power by converting hydrogen and oxygen to electricity. A Ford spokesman said the fuel cell Explorer was not a production-ready model.

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-- John O’Dell