The INSIA has unveiled EPISOL in the Ecological Automobile and Sustainable Mobility Show. This is the only electric vehicle that combines three sources of energy: thermal, hydrogen and solar.

The Institute for Automobile Research (INSIA) of the Technical University of Madrid presented EPISOL at the International Ecological Automobile and Sustainable Mobility Show–an electric vehicle that combines three sources of energy: thermal, hydrogen and solar.

EPISOL is a light, urban electric vehicle developed by INSIA-UPM at the proposal of CEMUSA, an outdoor advertising company owned by FCC that specializes in publicity for urban furniture, with the collaboration of the Industrial Automation Group (IAI) from the Spanish National Scientific Research Council (CSIC). The power plant of EPISOL consists of a plug-in hybrid propulsion system in serial configuration, with extended autonomy and regenerative braking. In this configuration the extended autonomy comes from three sources of energy that feed power to the batteries: a heat motor which activates a generator, a fuel cell fed by hydrogen and solar panels installed on the roof of the vehicle.

EPISOL promises numerous advantages: better autonomy, low emissions of pollutants (zero in electric mode with a fuel cell), energy savings through the use of regenerative braking, less noise, and reduced use of fossil fuels through the capture of solar energy.