A ground-breaking new project to make sure that the United Kingdom is well prepared for the commercial launch of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles has been announced by the Business Minister Mark Prisk today.
The new programme called UKH2Mobility brings together government and industry to help develop infrastructure solutions to support drivers of hydrogen fuel cell cars. Three government departments are involved in the new programme, along with industry experts from the gas, utilities, infrastructure and car manufacturing sectors.
This new group will first evaluate the potential offered by hydrogen as an Ultra-Low Carbon fuel for UK drivers, before moving on to develop an action plan for the expected commercial roll-out in 2014/15. One of the first steps for the group will be to analyse the investments which will be required to fully commercialise and roll-out the technology, including the infrastructure required for refuelling. They will also be looking at how the UK can take a leading role in the development of this new technology, and the economic opportunities which could come from it.
The UKH2Mobility group was officially launched at the Royal Society today. Speaking at this launch event Mark Prisk said:
"The UK is proving itself to be a key early market for ultra-low emission vehicles with growing numbers of electric and plug-in hybrids appearing on our roads. The Government is supporting this market by investing £400million to support the development, demonstration and deployment of low and ultra-low emission vehicles.
"Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are increasingly being recognised as one of the viable options as we move to a lower carbon motoring future. They are highly efficient, can be fuelled in minutes, travel an equivalent range to a conventional combustion engine, and have zero tail-pipe emissions."
"The UK has a number of world-class companies that are developing exciting technologies in both the hydrogen energy and automotive value chains and it is therefore vitally important that we identify what is required to make these cars a realistic proposition for UK consumers.
"UKH2Mobility will bring together industry expertise to establish the UK as a serious global player in the manufacture and use of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and the supporting infrastructure."
The initial evaluations from the UKH2Mobility group will be completed by the end of this year, and if the results prove to be positive, then an action plan will be devised to provide a detailed plan for preparing the UK to be one of the world's first markets for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles.
