JCB has made a second major breakthrough in proving the wider appeal of hydrogen combustion technology by installing one of its super-efficient hydrogen engines into a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.
The white van retrofit was completed in just two weeks and one of the vehicle’s first test drivers was JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, who is leading the company’s £100 million hydrogen engine project.
The internal combustion engine used in the van is the same as those already powering prototype JCB construction and agricultural machines. It is the second Mercedes-Benz vehicle to be retrofitted with a JCB hydrogen engine; earlier this year a 7.5 tonne Mercedes-Benz truck was given the JCB hydrogen treatment.
JCB Chairman, Lord Bamford said:
“This is a giant leap forward for JCB and the rest of the world because we all have one goal: to reduce emissions. The hydrogen engine we have installed in the truck is the same as those already powering prototype JCB machines, so there is no reason we should not see hydrogen combustion engines in vehicles used on the roads in the future, including cars.”
JCB has already manufactured more than 70 hydrogen internal combustion engines in a project involving 150 British engineers and they now power prototype JCB backhoe loader and Loadall telescopic handler machines.
The converted van was formerly diesel-powered and the switch to hydrogen is another breakthrough which underlines that this form of power could represent a much quicker way to reach global carbon dioxide emissions targets.
On the installation of the JCB hydrogen engine into a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, Lord Bamford said:
“We have retrofitted this vehicle with a JCB hydrogen engine to demonstrate how simple it will be to convert existing vans and to show that it is not only construction and agricultural machines that can be powered by hydrogen. While converting vans will not be for JCB to do, it does prove there is something else other than batteries that can work very effectively.”
JCB is the developer of the world’s first working hydrogen-powered construction and agricultural machines. Last year JCB revealed another industry first – a mobile hydrogen refueller which provides a quick and straightforward way to refuel machines on site. JCB’s hydrogen internal combustion engines are manufactured at JCB Power Systems in Derbyshire.
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Well done to JCB, another milestone in British engineering.
BUT where can the van driver fill up his van with hydrogen??
Many people would buy a hydrogen car (I would !) but until there is a nation wide infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations no one will make the purchase.
Perhaps JCB can move into this area ??
it will only happen if we replace these eco snowflake so called experts with real people who live in the real world
As an EV driver myself I applaud efforts to expand the use of non carbon fuels and it matters not one iota to me that there is an alternative to EV.