The first zero-emission light commercial vehicles (LCVs) from First Hydrogen will soon go through testing at the nearby HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground and test track.
This week, the company’s first demonstrator car successfully refueled with hydrogen at a pressure of 700 bar at the ITM/MOTIVE location in Rainham, Essex, not far from the AVL plant in Basildon. The 700-bar fill is a crucial performance factor since at that pressure rate, the vehicle can quickly reach a range of 400–600 km. Drivers will be able to view the energy storage and power flow within the van on the dashboard display once it is operational.
The LCVs from First Hydrogen have been approved for usage on UK roads and will be tested in a number of real-world scenarios with significant fleet operators in the UK beginning in January 2023. Currently, big grocery chains, infrastructure and utility companies, and healthcare services have fleets set to test the LCVs. First Hydrogen will be able to interact with potential customers during the trials, which are being conducted in partnership with the Aggregated Hydrogen Freight Consortium (AHFC), and gather feedback for its next-generation 2.0 LCVs. Additionally, they will give fleet managers the chance to practice driving zero-emission hydrogen cars for their business.
The market for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) was assessed at $463.00 billion (U.S.) in 2020 and is anticipated to grow by 5.3% annually to reach $786.50 billion (U.S.) by 2030. (Allied Market Research), making it a crucial vehicle class that First Hydrogen should focus on with a zero-emission transportation option. The most recent development milestone falls in line with the EU’s intention to outlaw the sale of gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles and vans by 2035. In order to reach the ultimate objective of a 100% reduction of CO2 emissions for new vehicles and vans by 2035, it has tentatively decided to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% for new cars and 50% for new vans by 2030 from 2021 estimates.
