Hydrogen cars to storm London

A CONSORTIUM of car makers, infrastructure suppliers and energy consultancies has signed an exciting new agreement to turn hydrogen-powered cars into an everyday reality.

The pioneering deal, dubiously named the HyFIVE project (Hydrogen For Innovative Vehicles), is the largest of its kind in Europe.

The five manufacturers have agreed to deploy a total of 110 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at several European locations and develop new clusters of hydrogen refuelling stations – and London is high on the list of targets.

Hydrogen-powered cars use hydrogen gas combined with oxygen from the atmosphere to generate electric power with no harmful tailpipe emissions – just water vapour that is so pure it can be condensed and drunk by humans.

They have the potential to be more than twice as fuel-efficient as conventionally powered vehicles and operate very quietly. The technology allows for rapid re-fuelling times and the potential to cover over 400 miles before needing to be re-fuelled.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “To sell this technology we need to show Londoners and the wider world that it is not science fiction.

“By building the vehicles and the filling stations and allowing people to kick the tyres we will be able to demonstrate that hydrogen is a viable option and that London is at the forefront of efforts to make it so.”

By Press Association reporter