May
20
Black cabs go green by 2012
Filed Under Current affairs, Driving
A collaboration between hydrogen fuel cell developer, Intelligent Energy, Lotus Engineering Ltd, LTI (London Taxis International) Ltd and TRW Conekt, will see the fleet of classic London cabs fitted out with zero emissions hydrogen fuel cell power systems, all by 2012.
This is part of the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board. Recent allocation of funding includes £23 million for 16 innovative low carbon vehicle development programmes. I won’t wonder how much carbon has been spent developing these ideas at present.
Back to the Taxis’- the taxis will be powered by fuel cells and batteries made into an electric hybrid, so the vehicles will be able to operate for a whole day without refuelling.
The Taxis will have the capability of speeds of up to 75 mph, handy for London traffic.
The fuel cell powertrain aims to provide better acceleration than standard taxis. The vehicles will top up their hydrogen tanks at central depots with a refuelling process will take just several minutes.
Chief executive officer at Intelligent Energy, Henri Winand, said,
“With the price of oil continuing to rise and CO2 emissions increasing, we need to introduce alternatives to the petrol and diesel engine. Fuel cell vehicles offer considerable well-to-wheel emissions savings, and produce no pollution at the tail-pipe. The black cab is an internationally recognised and iconic symbol of London and this partnership is an important part of making low carbon transport a practical and near-term reality. This project is central to our plans to supply zero emissions power systems to the automotive market.”
Hydrogen fuel cells produce power from hydrogen and air, the only emissions coming in the form of water vapour.
The fuel cell system will still be able to function fully at temperatures such as -20°C, no freezing up in extreme temperatures.
“Our technical teams have already successfully integrated fuel cell power systems into motorbikes, delivery vehicles and even aircraft, where we recently provided the power system for the world’s first manned fuel cell powered flight. Energy security and the environment remain major global issues, and people around the world are coming to see that hydrogen is a viable solution to our growing energy needs. The taxi project will provide further evidence of our ability to put commercially available hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the market in the coming years, and what better stage to prove the credentials of British innovation than on the way to the 2012 London Olympics,” added Winand.
Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: “We are delighted to support this important project. Tackling the growth of carbon emissions from road transport and meeting demanding new EU carbon emission standards for new cars are major challenges for the UK ’s automotive industry. Through our investment in UK-based research and development, the Technology Strategy Board aims to accelerate the introduction into the market of low carbon vehicles, ahead of what would be achieved by market forces alone.” He added: “This is an excellent example of an initiative that will help UK business stay at the forefront of low carbon transport technologies.”
The Hydrogen powered BMW doesn’t seem so far fetched now, does it? How long before we get hydrogen powered vans for our deliveries?
Further links and reading can be found at:
http://www.innovateuk.org/publications/publications-library.ashx
http://www.intelligent-energy.com
Kevin Arrow
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