Review of Fuel Cell Car Kits

There are a number of different fuel cell car kits available on the internet. Which to choose? I have played around with three of the fuel cell car kits available on the internet:

  1. Thames & Kosmos Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit
  2. Hyco Fuel Cell Car Complete
  3. Intelligent Fuel Cell Car Lab
Thames and Kosmos
Hyco
Intelligent
Cost: $125 (volume discount at Educational Innovations) to $140 $195 Sargent-Welch $60-70 Fuel Cell Store
Applications and features: In addition to the fuel cell car kit, this kit has a solar panel to make hydrogen as well as a multi-meter, spindel and thread to make a crane, resistors to do more activities with electricity. Over 30 experiments and a beautiful 96 page full color book make this kit by far the most feature-filled I have seen. In addition to the fuel cell car kit, this kit comes with a solar panel. I had a bad experience where my solar panel did not work. The company sent me a replacement eventually. The construction is sturdy with large plugs that might be appropriate for younger students. This sturdiness comes with more weight and which means the car will not travel as far. The design is very simple and easy to use, however. This car comes with only the fuel cell and a battery holder for making hydrogen with the fuel cell. A solar cell is available for additional cost.
Car mobility: By far the best traveling car. The light weight , larger storage tanks, and well designed drive-train make this the longest running car I have played with. The speed is reasonable, too. The weight of this car and the rather inefficient drive-train leaves this car unable to go for more than a few minutes. I was rather disappointed. Both the speed and the duration of operation leave much to be desired. The false front wheels on this car are a bit deceiving. The fuel cell powers a motor with two tiny wheels in the center of the car that enable the "intelligent" function of turning when the car encounters an obstacle. The speed suffers as a result, and the duration of operation is less than the Thames and Kosmos kit although it is longer than the Hyco.
Overall: By far, this is the best kit! It is simply the best designed car with the most features. It supports activities that can fit into most introductory chemistry and physics curricula. This kit was a disappointing investment despite the ease of use. For the price, I would recommend the Thames and Kosmos kit with its larger number of features and better performance. The price of this kit may seem to make this an attractive option for a really basic demonstration. But the lack of speed and lack of additional features often fails to inspire students.