JCB's latest hydrogen breakthrough offers wider market appeal
The company has successfully installed one of its super-efficient hydrogen engines into a Mercedes Sprinter van, marking an advancement in the utilization of sustainable energy for vehicles.
The van was retrofitted in just two weeks and is the second Mercedes vehicle to be modified with a JCB hydrogen engine; earlier this year a 7.5 ton Mercedes truck was given the JCB hydrogen treatment. The internal combustion engine used in the van is the same as those already powering the JCB construction and agricultural prototype machines.
One of the first test drivers was Anthony Bamford, JCB Chairman, who is leading the company’s hydrogen engine project. “We 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,” says Bamford. “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 has already manufactured more than 70 hydrogen internal combustion engines in a project involving 150 British engineers. The hydrogen engines now power prototype JCB backhoe loader and Loadall telescopic handler machines.
The converted van was previously diesel-powered. 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. Another benefit to hydrogen-powered vehicles is that they can be refueled in a matter of minutes compared to several hours for recharging batteries.
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