What's boosting the range to 500 miles is a bio-methanol fuel cell used as a range extender. Serenergy, a partner in the MECC project, has developed an air-cooled fuel cell with high fuel flexibility and reliable fuel cell operation under extreme temperature conditions. By fueling the fuel cell with bio-methanol, the car is still avoiding the use of fossil fuels, while relying on an energy-dense organic fuel.
Organic fuels are more energy dense than batteries, allowing more energy to be carried on-board than could be carried by batteries alone. The problem with most organic fuels derived from fossil oil (e.g. gasoline or diesel) is that when burned it increases the amount of carbon in the ecosphere, by desequestering carbon that was sequestered millions of years ago. However, biofuels like bio-methanol simply reuse carbon that is already in the ecosphere, and do not increase carbon levels.
The question is whether the QBEAK with a fuel cell is, technically speaking, still an electric car. Technically this would be a fuel cell car (FCEV). Assuming the battery pack can still be recharged directly from the electrical grid, one could also call it a plug-in hybrid. (see When is an electric car not an electric car?) Indeed, ECOmove recognizes this as well where the press release says: "the fuel cell range extended ECOmove QBEAK will have significant benefits compared to competing solutions of other plug-in hybrid electric vehicles or battery electric vehicles."
