Sacramento--Two Touran HyMotion vehicles are participating in the fourth CaFCP Road Rally. Both Touran HyMotion vehicles are equipped with the 80 kW electric engine powered by fuel cells. The press, politicians, the government, environmental groups as well as members of student organisations have the opportunity to become familiar with the vehicles and their emissions-free technology during test drives.

The route, which was laid down by the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), founded in 1999 by Volkswagen and other partners, leads from Sacramento via Berkeley and San Jose to San Francisco. The objectives of this year's rally are to demonstrate the advantages of hydrogen-fuelled fuel cell vehicles, propagate the use of sustainable vehicles, to draw public attention to the hydrogen filling stations between Sacramento and San Francisco and also to provide the general public with the opportunity to experience this new technology at first hand. The CaFCP is made up of a cooperation of fuel suppliers, fuel cell manufacturers, vehicle groups and representatives of the US government.

The standard version of the Touran, powered by petrol and diesel engines which are both agile and economical, is the most popular van by far in Germany. In the Touran HyMotion, however, an 80 kW electric engine is the power source. The electricity is provided by a chemical reactor: the fuel cell. The performance figures are impressive: in 14 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and a top speed of 140 km/h.