14 DAY TRIAL // A fleet of new hydrogen fuel cell cars is to be a part of the West Midlands CABLED trial (Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrator programme), a project set up to showcase and evaluate low carbon vehicles across the region.
The fleet is to include Microcab’s H2EV vehicles, the brainchild of John Jostins, professor of sustainable transport design at Coventry University (and MD of Microcab).
The H2EV includes a chassis designed by Microcab and Delta Motorsport and engineered by Lotus. It can be refueled in a matter of minutes with hydrogen just like a conventional powered car and can run for up to 120 miles (193 km) between refueling.
Also available in van and taxi options, this four-seat car is powered by a 3 kW fuel cell, which uses hydrogen as a fuel combined with oxygen, to produce electricity to drive the vehicle and with water vapor as the model’s only emission.
“We’re thrilled to be launching our new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle into the CABLED trial here in the West Midlands,” stated John Jostins, managing director of Microcab and professor of sustainable transport design at Coventry University.
“It’s our hope that the H2EV, in conjunction with the UK’s burgeoning hydrogen fuelling infrastructure, will cultivate interest in and funding for the UK’s niche vehicle sector, particularly in the field of low emissions automotive technologies where the West Midlands has excelled for years,” he added.
Other vehicles involved in the CABLED trial are the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Tata Indica Vista EV, smart fortwo electric drive, Land Rover Range-e, and the Halo IPT Citroen C1 EV’ie.
Earlier this month, the first public refueling station for hydrogen powered vehicles has been inaugurated in the UK, at the Honda plant in Swindon.