Leading automobile technology company, Roush Technologies will be displaying its latest bi-fuel Internal Combustion Engine conversion at the Cenex hosted UK National Low Carbon Vehicle event at the Millbrook Proving Ground today.
Roush will be revealing its modified Ford Transit which can operate on its traditional petrol engine or run on compressed hydrogen gas. The concept is designed to demonstrate that hydrogen technology can offer a real, viable solution for commercial vehicles.
As well as its own combustion engine, the Transit van has three tanks of hydrogen, underslung below the vehicle floor. This installation provides a usable storage capacity for 4.5 kilograms of hydrogen at 350bar (5000psi) and gives an estimated range between 95 miles for the urban cycle and 135 miles for open highway running.
Roush Technologies recently established a collaboration agreement with ITM Power plc to provide the breakthrough refuelling solution by enabling vehicle operators to generate their own hydrogen fuel. Using a patented electrolyser, due to enter production at ITM’s special facility in Sheffield later this year, it is possible to make hydrogen fuel wherever there is a source of electricity and water.
The advances in electrolysis technology that ITM has achieved address the hydrogen infrastructure issue by using the already developed electricity and water distribution network. The electrolyser can produce hydrogen from water and any source of electricity including off-peak or renewable energy – electricity generated by wind, wave or solar power.
