Press release

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A fleet of 100 vehicles equipped with fuel cells will travel across Europe

Hydrogen vehicles are considered the future of road transport in Europe, but they are currently not yet widely available for sale on the market. The European SWARM project (for ‘Demonstration of Small 4-Wheel fuel cell passenger vehicle Applications in Regional and Municipal transport’), created by the FCH JU, has now been launched. This project will give rise to the large scale deployment of small hydrogen passenger cars in three European regions – the British Midlands, the Weser-Ems region in North-West Germany, as well as the Brussels and Walloon regions in Belgium. Each of these regions will be provided with a cutting edge technology hydrogen service station, which will contribute to the creation of ‘hydrogen motorway’ and allow hydrogen cars to travel from Scotland to Scandinavia or Berlin, in passing through the existing or future service stations in Aberdeen, London, Hamburg, Cologne and Copenhagen.

The vehicles used in the project are low cost passenger cars, with high energy efficiency and have been specifically designed for regional and urban transportation. They are equipped with electric motors and fuel cells which run on hydrogen. As a result water constitutes the sole waste product. A kilogram of hydrogen will allow the vehicles to travel over 100km with just a single quick fill-up (3 minutes), at a cost comparable to contemporary petrol driven cars.

Over 90 vehicles built by three European manufacturers will be driven by drivers in various real operating conditions. The cars will be monitored throughout the whole of the three year period, the duration of the project’s demonstration phase (2014-2016). Their reliability, fuel economy and performance will be evaluated, which will lead to new improvements and models of marketable cars. Businesses and private individuals who wish to test these vehicles during this demonstration phase have the opportunity to become the pioneers of a future mode of non-polluting transport and are invited to contact the local partners (ULB, ULg) for Belgium.

The project’s local partners

The Free University of Brussels (ULB) is participating in the SWARM project through its ATM Department (Aero-Thermo-Mechanics) directed by Professor G. Degrez, together with part of Professor Patrick HENDRICK’s team.

The team will mainly carry out two tasks concerning the project’s research section. First of all the development of a complete test bench for the whole chain of the vehicle’s hybrid transmission (Li-Ion battery + PEM type fuel cell) in order to carry out characterisation and endurance tests on the fuel cell. One of the objectives is really to carry out tests of very long duration (around 3 years) in order to determine the effects due to the lifespan (ageing) of the fuel cell.

Next the ATM team will look into and establish a complete model for charge, mass and heat exchange in the cell, depending on the operational modalities and including within it aspects related to the ageing of the fuel cell.

This work will also be supported by a demonstration phase with a good dozen vehicles driving in Brussels which will be fitted with instruments in order to gather at a distance (through a CAN bus system) a whole series of experimental data on fuel cells in real driving conditions. This data will also serve to establish and validate exchange models within the fuel cell, taking into account the ageing and the air pollution in the urban environment.

The Brussels Capital Region – Innoviris is supporting this project.

The University of Liège (ULg) is an active participant in the project through two research teams, the Electrochemistry Group (Applied Chemistry Department, Dr Nathalie JOB) and the Vehicle Engineering Group (Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department, Prof. Pierre DUYSINX). The two teams co-ordinate their work on testing vehicles in real conditions. The ULg will in particular be responsible for carrying out tests comparing fuel cells in the laboratory and driving on the road conditions. A partner of the Automobile Campus at Spa Francorchamps, the ULg will carry out fuel cell tests on the famous Spa circuit, thus transforming the Ardennes loop into a privileged test platform for European fuel cell vehicles. The results stemming from research are vital in order to improve the design, performance, the certification and the reliability of future fuel cell vehicles.

The ULg will also be responsible for setting up the project for demonstrating vehicles equipped with fuel cells in urban environments. Equally the ULg will be involved in evaluating public perception of fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen technology. Working together with the ULg’s SPIRAL group (Prof. Catherine FALLON), questionnaires concerning acceptability will be developed within the framework of the project: these questionnaires will enable vehicle users in the three regions to make known their feelings and, ultimately, prepare the general public for the appearance of the new technology on the market.

On the initiative of the Minister for the Economy, J.-C. Marcourt, this project will benefit from joint funding of the Walloon Region in the context of the Marshall Plan and more specifically from the policy of valorising technology transfer.

The European context

The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) is a public-private partnership, unique of its kind, which supports European research, technological development and demonstration activities leaning on fuel cells and hydrogen. It aims to accelerate the process of placing these technologies on the market by using their potential, which will enable a process of low carbon emission energy production to be achieved. Fuel cells, as an efficient conversion technology, and hydrogen, as a clean energy vector, offer genuine possibilities to fight carbon dioxide emissions, reduce dependency on hydrocarbon fuels and contribute to economic growth. The objective of FCH JU is to have Europeans benefit from these advantages thanks to combined efforts in every sector. The three members of FCH JU are the European Commission, industries in the fuel cell and hydrogen sector, represented by the NEW industrial cluster, and the science community, represented by the N.ERGHY science cluster.

Contact: Claire Castel, e-mail: fch-ju@fch.europa.eu, Telephone. +32 2 221 81 35

Vignette image: © Pascal Fossier - Fotolia.com

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