Automakers left and right have been experimenting
with hydrogen fuel cells. Some company have even put them into
production and offered them to the public. But passenger cars aren't the only
ones on the road, or the only vehicles that could benefit from the clean
propulsion technology.
UPS, which isn't waiting around for a
manufacturer to supply it with greener vehicles, but is developing its own fuel
cell-powered delivery trucks as part of its Rolling Laboratory, a fleet of
experimental logistics vehicles.
The Class 6 medium-duty delivery truck carries 10 kg
of hydrogen fuel, a 32-kilowatt fuel cell, and a 45-kWh battery. The hydrogen
fuel cell charges the battery which powers the electric motor to allow the van
to travel along its root – even down the highway – with zero tailpipe
emissions. Despite the photo above that was clearly taken in New York, the first prototype is being
tested in Sacramento. Once the company has about 5,000 hours of in-service
operational data, it plans to start rolling them out more extensively across
California, where there's already a (relatively) extensive network of hydrogen
fuel stations.
UPS reports that it has invested over US$ 750 million
in alternative propulsion and other advanced technologies since 2009, deploying
over 8,300 experimental vehicles (from electric bicycles to natural gas and
renewable diesel fuel) around the world.
