Motoring Nation Car News and Pictures
Hyundai Motor’s hydrogen success continues as Aberdeen City Council and Co-wheels car club add four ix35 Fuel Cells to their fleet of models. The cars will be made available to the public through the car club on a pay-as-you-go basis and to Aberdeen businesses for trial.
This order takes the nationwide total of Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles to 15 with more than 250 across Europe. Those vehicles in the UK are already in use by Johnson Matthey, TfL, Air Products, ITM Power and Anglo American.
Hyundai Motor UK CEO, Tony Whitehorn said: “As more and more cities throughout the UK begin to improve their hydrogen facilities, we’re seeing greater demand for our ix35 Fuel Cell. It’s fantastic to be a part of Aberdeen’s hydrogen development in this way, especially because the cars are going to be used on a day-to-day basis by members of the public. We want them to experience all the reasons why we think hydrogen is the way forward in terms of usability, refinement and ultra-clean motoring.”
Aberdeen City Councillor Barney Crockett, who also chairs the European hydrogen association HyER, added: “Aberdeen is developing a reputation as a ‘can-do’ hydrogen city. With these cars, we are taking things to the next level, moving ever closer to becoming a world-leading renewables city and securing a hydrogen economy in Aberdeen, presenting tangible opportunities to the energy industry.”
In addition, as part of the UK’s Hydrogen Week (March 14-18, 2016), the government-backed London Hydrogen Network Expansion project (LHNE) – of which Hyundai Motor is a partner – broke two new distance records for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles driving in the ix35 Fuel Cell.
The first record was for the longest journey in the UK on a single tank of hydrogen – travelling 406 miles – and the second was for the longest continuous journey made in a fuel cell vehicle by travelling 6,096 miles over 50 laps of the M25 in six days.
The ix35 Fuel Cell is the first hydrogen car to go on sale to the public in the UK – it has a range of 326 miles but emits only water and has a refueling time to match a combustion-engined car.
LHNE, co-funded by Innovate UK, was set up in 2012 to create the UK’s first hydrogen-powered transport system across London and the South East. It has delivered a new publicly-accessible, state-of-the-art fast-fill Air Products SmartFuel® hydrogen refuelling station and upgraded a second to the requisite 700 bar pressure status.
The LHNE partners are now keen for the adoption of hydrogen fuel cell technology to accelerate in the UK but one of the main challenges is the limited coverage of refuelling stations to support the vehicles. There are currently six stations in the UK, including the two public Air Products SmartFuel® stations in London and funding is in place for at least 12 to be operational in England and Scotland within the next 12 months.
