City’s hydrogen car project hits speedbump
Electric cars will make up shortfall in city’s original plan to roll out a hydrogen-powered fleet
The City’s Council ambitious pilot project to rely on hydrogen-powered vehicles has hit a roadblock and only eight of the original 15 will be delivered by the November deadline.
Deputy Mayor Klaus Bondam, who heads the technical and environment administration, announced earlier this year that 15 hydrogen-powered cars would be on the roads before the UN climate conference in December.
Norwegian company Think was due to deliver 13 and French company Mega would provide two work vehicles.
The electric vehicles were to be adapted using hydrogen fuel cells supplied by Herning-based company H2 Logic, to allow the vehicles to travel much further on a single charge than regular electric cars.
H2 Logic was due to deliver the fuel cells to Think for installation, but because the Norwegian company’s recent financial troubles, H2 Logic has been given the task of installing the fuel cells themselves.
‘But it’s not a job we wish to continue in the long-term. We don’t produce cars; we produce fuel cells for car manufacturers,’ said H2 Logic’s Jacob Krogsgaard to science weekly Ingeniøren.
Council project manager Casper Harboe told The Copenhagen Post that because of developments, the original contract was changed so now only eight hydrogen cars are expected to be delivered – six from Think and two from Mega.
Harboe said the council is continuing with its plan of having 85 percent of municipal vehicles running on electricity or hydrogen cells by 2015. To make up for receiving fewer hydrogen cars than planned, the city council will purchase 25 electric vehicles for their new fleet.
He added that the city has already bought 17 cars and a further eight will be purchased in the next few weeks. The new vehicles will be supplied by the Fiat, Modec and Citroen companies.
The new alternative fuel fleet will be accompanied by a limited infrastructure of charging stations around the city, before the council presents its extensive infrastructure plan early next year.
