As part of the U.S. Department of Energy hydrogen project, Ford Motor Company and BP plc are announcing an hydrogen initiative. Ford will supply 30 Ford Focus Fuel Cell vehicles, and BP will build a network of fueling stations to support them, in metropolitan Sacramento, Orlando, and Detroit.
The proposed fleets and fueling stations are in response to the U.S. Department of Energy's solicitation, entitled "Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project."
Ford will assemble the vehicles beginning in the fourth quarter of 2004, depending on the timing of successful contract negotiations with the U.S. DOE and various state and local entities.
The Ford Focus FCV is one of the industry's first hybridized fuel cell vehicles combining the improved range and performance of hybrid technology with the overall benefits of a fuel cell.
The Ford Focus FCV uses an 85kW fuel cell stack supplied by Ballard Power Systems, a world leader in proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. The FCV is hybridized with the addition of a nickel metal-hydride battery pack and a brake-by-wire electro-hydraulic series regenerative braking system.
BP plans to install a network of stations demonstrating state-of-the art fueling technologies to support the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Some BP hydrogen refueling stations will evaluate technologies that have near-term commercial feasibility, such as reformation of natural gas, while others will explore more long-term technology options and assess the potential to produce renewable-based hydrogen that achieve U.S. DOE hydrogen fuel cost targets.
Under the proposal, Ford intends to station up to 10 Focus FCV vehicles in each of the three metro areas of Orlando, Sacramento, and Detroit.
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