ZEFER Project Introduces Fleet of 180 Fuel Cell Vehicles in Europe

author: Mia Bevacqua   

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) haven't gained the popularity many had hoped for. The Zero Emission Fleet Vehicles for European Rollout (ZEFER) intends to sway public opinion by deploying fleets of FCEVs in London, Paris and Brussels. 

ZEFER deploys fuel cell fleet 

The ZEFER FCEVs will be put to work in large fleets of 60 vehicles each.  Altogether, 170 of these machines will provide service to taxis and private-hires, while 10 will be for police units. The roll out will happen quickly, with most of the vehicles deployed by 2018. Already, 25 are being introduced in London by a company called Green Tomato cars.

FCEVs use a fuel cell to turn hydrogen gas into electricity. The only bi-products of the FCEV process are water and excessive heat, which means the ZEFER fleet can easily help clean up polluted cities. A burgeoning network of hydrogen stations will refuel the vehicles.

ZEFER predicts the FCEVs will cover a lot of ground. In Paris, the estimate is 90,000 km/year and in London, 40,000 km/year. Data will be collected on the vehicles as they make their rounds. The retrieved information will then be presented as a petition for greater FCEV use. 

A collaborative effort

All together, the ZEFER initiative will cost e €26-million ($32-million US) pan-European. So, who's backing the effort? The coordinator is Element Energy Limited of the United Kingdom. Other participating organizations include hydrogen suppliers, vehicle end users, observing partners and supporting partners. The backing network spans the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Germany. ZEFER also received €5 million from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), a public-private partnership devoted to the advancement of FCEVs in Europe. 

FCEVs are highly efficient, zero-emissions machines. Hopefully, with so much support and enthusiasm, they will begin to get the recognition they deserve. 

Source: Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking

Mia Bevacqua

Mia is an ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician, L1, L2 and L3 Advanced Level Specialist. She has over 12 years of experience in the automotive industry and a bachelor’s degree in automotive technology. These skills have been applied toward content writing, technical writing, inspections, consulting, automotive software engineering.