While many car manufacturers struggle to bring their green car concepts to life, Volkswagen has bucked the trend at the Los Angeles Auto Show by introducing three fuel cell prototypes.

With one eye on the future, Volkswagen has showcased a Tiguan compact SUV, a Touran compact mini-van and the Passat Lingyu, all of which will be zero emission vehicles.

Let’s take a look at each one:

• - Tiguan HyMotion – A fuel cell prototype, this is Volkswagen’s first fuel cell powered SUV. The car features a fuel cell stack with low temperature conventional PEM fuel cells that operate at a temperature of about 80°C.
• - Touran fuel cell prototype – A fuel cell that also uses the VW-developed stack but with an 80kW electric motor. The 1.9kWh NiMH battery is recharged by the fuel cell stack or through regenerative braking.
• - Passat Lingyu fuel cell prototype – Developed in Shanghai with students from Tongji University, this is the fourth generation in a line of fuel cells developed by the University. It includes a 55kW fuel cell stack and is driven by an electric motor with 88kW of power.

Both the Tiguan and Touran models are being tested as part of a durability study in California while 20 Lingyu fuel cell vehicles were used at the Beijing Olympics.