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The United States Army and General Motors have quite a history together. Back in the 90’s, General Motors created the iconic Hummer for the Army to use in the first Iraq War. Now, General Motors is once again creating a new vehicle for the United States Army based on the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado.

Called the Colorado ZH2, the concept truck looks more like it came out of a Halo video game rather than something from Detroit. The ZH2 is longer than a standard Colorado and has a tougher chassis. The chassis had to be reinforced not only to make it more durable over rough roads but to also contain the fuel cell powertrain.

Unlike current Army vehicles, the new Chevrolet Colorado ZH2 will be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The fuel cell will generate electricity from stored liquid hydrogen and oxygen from the ambient air to power the electric motors that drive the wheels. There are many benefits to using hydrogen fuel cells over conventional combustion engines or pure electric motors which include:

  • Reduced noise emissions
  • Reduced thermal signature
  • High torque at all driving speeds
  • Low hydrogen fuel consumption
  • Water by-product for field uses
  • Excess electricity can be used for field purposes

General motors is still currently testing the new truck and once that is complete by early 2017, it will deliver it to the Army where more field testing will be conducted before it is implemented in the battle scene.

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