SKATEBOARD: A 11 inches thick chassis with the entire propulsion system housed within; a single electric drive motor packaged up front propels the front tires; drive-by-wire steering, acceleration, and braking with 20-inch tires in front and 22-inch tires in the rear; the fuel cell propulsion system can propel the electric drive motor to top speed of 100 mph; the total vehicle weighed 4,200 lbs; the fuel cell running on hydrogen was capable of providing 100kw of continuous power and had a range of 100 miles based on the compressed tanks of hydrogen packaged in the middle of the skateboard.

DRIVE-BY-WIRE: Enabled steering, braking and other vehicle systems to be controlled electronically rather than mechanically. The driver brakes, accelerates, and steers with either the right or left hand. There are no pedals to operate.  The driver accelerates by gently twisting the handgrip, brakes by squeezing the handgrip, and steers by gliding the hand up or down the handgrip, a motion similar to the circular motion of a traditional steering wheel.

BODY TOP: A five-seat touring sedan with cameras capturing external side view mirrors data and then display the information on displays mounted within the interior. A rearview camera captured rearview images and was display on the drive-by-wire steering unit drivers display. A translatable driver console featured braking, steering and accelerating controls at the user’s fingertips and translates to either a right-hand or left-hand driver’s position. Additional features included power armrests folding up and down, adjustable driver and passenger foot rests, a rear glass trunk panel with headlamps which powers up and out at a touch of a button, a refueling port on the body side, a single “Power:  On” button, a body port to plug in the docking connections to the skateboard, LED headlamps and tail-lamps, and electroluminescent exterior logos, headliner, doors, trim, and floor illumination.

OPENNESS IN DESIGN: The front and rear body panels are transparent glass, which means that the driver can see through the front of the car through the traditional hood location and thought the back of the car through the trunk. Seats are made of see-through mesh, affording the driver greater visibility.

VEHICLE BODY HOIST: A spider-like device called the Spider Body Hoist attaches to the body side and lifts the body of the skateboard with a top-mounted hoist. Because all the internal organs of the system are exposed for the service technician, this enables the skateboard to be easily serviced and repaired .

UNVEILING: The General Motors Hy-Wire was unveiled at the International Auto Show Paris in 2002 and then subsequently shown at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in January 2003. The first “Ride and Drive” event for the media and dignitaries begin after the Paris Autoshow in late 2002, beginning  its global tour.

DESIGN: Executive Director Ed Welburn, the current VP of General Motors Design, oversaw and was responsible for the design development under then VP Wayne Cherry with Body Theme Creator: Alan Nicole. Body Lead Designer: Alan Nicol, Interior Lead Designer: Sean Lo, Chassis Lead Designer: Chet Wisniewski, and Initial Concept Design and Theme Creator: Tucker Johnson.