The government is opening up its wallet to fund fuel cell and hydrogen technologies to the tune of £7m. The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is investing the £7m pot 'o gold on 15 demonstrator programs on the government's behalf.
Peugeot Partner H2Origin
Smith Electric Vehicles is trialling a fuel cell that could double the range of its battery powered vans and trucks. The company makes the Smith Edison, a Ford Transit-based electric van, which has a claimed range of 100 miles (but it's more like 60-80 in reality). Anywhoo, Smith says that by adding this small hydrogen fuel cell the vehicles "will be able to achieve closer to 200 miles" (more like 120-160 miles in reality) between charges.
Whether it's for marketing or for cost-saving reasons, reducing fuel consumption is at, or near the top of, every fleet manager's agenda. We've often written about the need for night time delivery schedules for supermarkets and other retailers and Sainsbury's in Wandsworth has even conducted it's own trial not too long ago.
FFD braved the snow (and public transport) to go and drive Merc's compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Sprinter at the manufacturer's base in Milton Keynes.
Following on from our earlier entry on the Volvo FE Hybrid refuse truck, we find out that it's actually here in Britain. The vehicle is being trialled by Veolia in the City of Westminster, London, and will be tasked with keeping the mean streets of the City (plus the air for that matter) clean.
The hybrid setup is said to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30% and that's not only down to the hybird system. Oh no sireee. It's got this fancy battery-powered compactor body (independant from the powertrain) that negates the need for a power takeoff. The lithium-ion batteries are then recharged back at base after the shift is done.
We had a close look at the beast at a launch event today in London and we couldn't believe how quiet the vehicle is at low speed. We've had a go in the DAF LF hybrid and while it was an interesting prospect the diesel engine never completely turned off when in battery mode unlike the Volvo.
If you don't believe me, watch the video.
After signing a deal with Ford in the US to co-develop a Transit Connect EV next year, Azure Dynamics has secured an tidy order from FedEx for 51 hybrid vans. The new LCVs are based on Ford's E450 chassis (those classic American vans the bad guys/CIA guys always seem to use in films) and when they arrive they will add to FedEx's existing hybrid fleet of 274.
More damning evidence against the electric vehcile revolution, this time from the Evironmental Transport Association (ETA). A mjor report conducted on behalf of ETA says that while electric vehicles (like the Smith Edison and Newton and Modec) do demonstrate significant environmental benefits, these are wholly dependant on the manner of electricty generation and energy taxation.
Andrew Davis, ETA director, says: "While the report is not intended to dampen enthusiasm for electric vehicles their introduction should not be viewed as a panacea; significant changes to the way we produce and tax power are needed before we will reap any benefits."
Without boring you to death with the whole report, the key findings were:
Hybrid tech has been around for a some time now mainly in the passenger car market (see Toyota Prius and Honda Insight), although it hasn't completely caught on in the truck sector, until now.
The clever guys at America's National Research Council (NRC) examined the so-called 'hidden costs of energy production and use; in particular the effect air pollution has on peoples' health.
Got sent an e-mail from Jo Bourke (of Lorry Crime Blog fame) alerting FFD about an interesting development in fuel cell technology.
The beef is about L-3 Communications Combat Propulsion Systems or 'L-3 CPS' signing a deal to sell Proton Power's fuel cell and electric hybrid systems 'for use in propulsion systems, marine and universal power supply applications to the North American civilian and military applications market'.
Further details are fairly sketchy at this stage but we're hoping that the tie-up could help with the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology like this Mitisubishi Fuso fuel cell hybrid in future. Follow the link to read the offical press release...
