- Ford will lead a consortium in the three-year project that includes BP, which will focus on hydrogen and infrastructure, and British online supermarket and technology group Ocado.
- Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, in which hydrogen mixes with oxygen to produce water and energy to power a battery, can refuel in minutes and have a much longer range than those with BEVs.
On Tuesday, Ford Motor Co said it would test a small fleet of prototype hydrogen fuel-cell versions of its electric E-Transit model to see if they are a workable zero-emission option for customers hauling heavy goods long distances. Ford will lead a consortium in the three-year project that includes BP, which will focus on hydrogen and infrastructure, and British online supermarket and technology group Ocado.
Ford’s UK chairman Tim Slatter said in a statement, “Ford believes that the primary application of fuel cells could be in its largest, heaviest commercial vehicles to ensure they are emission-free while satisfying the high daily energy requirements our customers demand.” The Interest in using hydrogen fuel cells to power trucks and vans is getting a boost from fleet operators looking for a more practical alternative to electric vehicles and rising government aid, particularly the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
While most of the world’s combustion engine cars and short-distance vans and lorries should be replaced by battery electric vehicles (BEVs) over the next two decades, hydrogen fuel-cell proponents and some long-haul fleet operators say batteries are too heavy, take too long to charge and could overload power grids.
Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells, in which hydrogen mixes with oxygen to produce water and energy to power a battery, can refuel in minutes and have a much longer range than those with BEVs. But there are significant challenges to be overcome for the mass adoption of hydrogen fuel cells, including the lack of fueling stations and green hydrogen made using renewable energy to power them. The Advanced Propulsion Centre, a government and auto industry venture, partially funds the project.