Manufacturers to showcase Fuel Cell cars

October 2012 marks an extraordinary milestone in the history of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) in the UK. Four international car manufacturers will join forces to demonstrate hydrogen-powered FCEVs are not just technologies of the future but of today.

A total of 7 FCEVs from Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota will bring their individual hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to the UK as part of the European Hydrogen Road Tour 2012.

The event aims to reach out to politicians, industry leaders, media and the public to help improve awareness around FCEVs and their benefits, as well as how the UK needs to develop in order to accommodate a hydrogen refueling infrastructure. While the technology exists for Hydrogen Vehicles today, there is a real need to improve hydrogen distribution infrastructure. This tour also marks the most widespread effort to promote FCEVs in Europe to date.

The FCEVs from participating manufacturers will move through Copenhagen, Hamburg, Hannover, Bolzano and Paris, before heading to the UK cities of Cardiff, Bristol, Swindon and London, supported by local organisations in each city.

The European Hydrogen Road Tour 2012 is part of the “H2moves Scandinavia” project. The project is the first European Lighthouse Project for hydrogen funded by the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking programme launched by the European Commission and European industry stakeholders. The project focuses on gaining customer acceptance for hydrogen-powered FCEVs and preparing the market for hydrogen fuel cell technology. The experience from operating 19 FCEVs in Oslo and Copenhagen and the corresponding hydrogen refuelling infrastructure shows that the technology is reliable now, even in harsh Scandinavian winters.

Michel Gardel, Vice-President Communications, External and Environment Affairs of Toyota Motor Europe today commented: “Toyota has been active in fuel cell technology for the last 20 years and we are working to commercialise our next-generation fuel cell car by 2015. The European Hydrogen Road Tour is a great opportunity for our company and partners to demonstrate the readiness of the technology to European consumers."

Dr. Christian Mohrdieck, Director drive development fuel cell system, Daimler AG points out the importance of this technology: ”On our way to zero-emission mobility fuel cell electric vehicles - with their great range while at the same time short refueling times - will play a central role for the future. However, the success of this technology depends crucially on certain conditions being in place, such as the availability of a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure.”

Thomas Brachmann, Automobile Engineering & Research, Honda R&D Europe (Deutschland) GmbH remarked, “Honda believes fuel cell electric vehicles are the ultimate mobility solution, providing a practical, environmentally clean and near silent answer to transport requirements. The European Hydrogen Road Tour offers a great opportunity to give the public, media and government officials a chance to experience this impressive zero emission technology for themselves.”

Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe describes their reasons for joining the tour: “Hyundai is proud to be playing an integral role in the European Hydrogen Road Tour 2012. The Hyundai ix35 FCEV clearly demonstrates not only our commitment to producing hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, but also the benefits of FCEV. As the availability and performance of this technology improves, we can look forward to FCEVs providing sustainable mobility to future generations while dramatically reducing climate change.”

A fuel cell efficiently transforms hydrogen’s chemical energy into electricity and heat. The only emission is pure water. In combination with an electric motor, it can be used to power vehicles, delivering a much higher driving range and faster refuelling time than battery electric vehicles. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles deliver performance comparable with today’s conventional internal combustion engine vehicles but with zero tailpipe emissions and almost no sound whilst driving.