In many ways, commercial delivery vans are an ideal place for battery electric drive system. Many operate locally over relatively short distances, so no monster batteries are needed, and they return to the same location each night, ready to recharge for the next day. But that’s certainly not all delivery trucks. There are cases where additional range, additional equipment and additional load capacity are needed, and batteries can be an issue. Therefore Ford is trying to solve that problem with a small group of hydrogen fuel cells Electronic transit for testing in the UK
Ford lays out why fuel cells would be uniquely useful: “This could benefit operators with heavy-duty use cases including long haul hauls, maximum payloads, equipment auxiliary equipment such as chillers and those with limited charging opportunities during the shift.”
That maximum load aspect comes into play with the battery weight. The battery is very heavy and if you need more for longer range it will get worse and as the battery weight increases the payload will decrease. If you’re transporting heavy products, that’s a problem, especially if it’s over long distances. And of course, if you need to refuel faster or have other devices that draw from batteries, then fuel cells will be very useful.
Unfortunately, Ford hasn’t really put out any specs on its fuel cell test trucks, other than that it has a fuel cell holder for electricity and a fuel tank. Whether. hydrogen. Presumably, the actual powertrain has the same 266 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque. It is unclear whether the 126-mile battery pack is still in use or a smaller battery pack is used to reduce weight.
We know companies that work with Ford to grow. BP is building hydrogen production and infrastructure, Cambustion is working on fuel cell systems, Viritech is working on hydrogen storage, and Cygnet Texkimp is making carbon fiber hydrogen storage tanks.
Ford has eight of these trucks to be tested over the next three years. That period will be broken down into six-month trial periods. Ford did not say whether it plans to put the fuel-cell-powered E-Transits into production.
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