Proton Motor has integrated a HyRange hydrogen fuel cell system with an output of 8kW into the vehicle which supplies the battery with electrical energy. This significantly improves the vehicle's range and enables power to be supplied to the driver cabin air conditioning unit or additional equipment such as electrically powered refrigeration units.
The vehicle is available immediately for field testing by interested customers in the box van and tail lift configuration. The project was supported by funding from the NIP (National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation programme).
Dr. Francoise Faiz Nahab, Managing Director of Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH, said:
"We developed our HyRange system for buses and commercial vehicles for inner-city use. The vehicles are extremely quiet and emissions free. This is an optimal solution for every city that needs to meet the planned environmental targets. We are very proud of the results of our work over the last 3 years and hope that we will see considerable interest. Field testing the vehicles should give users from the logistics and service sectors an impression of the performance and reliability of our technology."
The Proton HyRange system is available for commercial vehicles up to 12 tonnes and for buses for local public transport. The modular design of the fuel cell system enables the electric output to be scaled accordingly.
The vehicle will be presented at the World of Energy Solutions trade fair next week in Stuttgart and will be available for test drives there.