Periodic Reporting for period 4 - H2ME (Hydrogen Mobility Europe)
Reporting period: 2018-12-01 to 2020-11-30
H2ME united Europe’s 4 most ambitious national initiatives on hydrogen mobility (Germany, Scandinavia, France and the UK). The project aimed to expand their developing networks of HRS and the fleets of fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) operating on Europe’s roads, to significantly expand the activities in each country and start the creation of a pan-European HRS network. In creating a project of this scale, a physical but also a strategic link has been created between the regions invovled (both leaders and observer countries developing their own hydrogen mobility strategies). The project is the most ambitious coordinated hydrogen deployment project attempted in Europe. The scale of this deployment has allowed the consortium to:
• Trial a large fleet of FCEVs in diverse applications across Europe - 214 OEM FCEVs (Mercedes and Toyota) and 125 fuel cell range-extended vans (Symbio) were deployed
• Trial 29 additional state of the art HRS were deployed, using technology from the full breadth of Europe’s station providers
• Conduct a real-world test of 4 national hydrogen mobility strategies and share learnings to support other countries’ strategy development
• Analyse the customer attitude to the FCEV proposition, with a focus on attitudes to the fuelling station networks as they evolve in each country
• Assess the performance of HRS and FCEV in order to provide data of a sufficient resolution to allow policy-makers, early adopters and the hydrogen mobility industry to validate the readiness of the technology for full commercial roll-out.
• Trial a large fleet of FCEVs in diverse applications across Europe - 214 OEM FCEVs (Mercedes and Toyota) and 125 fuel cell range-extended vans (Symbio) were deployed
• Trial 29 additional state of the art HRS were deployed, using technology from the full breadth of Europe’s station providers
• Conduct a real-world test of 4 national hydrogen mobility strategies and share learnings to support other countries’ strategy development
• Analyse the customer attitude to the FCEV proposition, with a focus on attitudes to the fuelling station networks as they evolve in each country
• Assess the performance of HRS and FCEV in order to provide data of a sufficient resolution to allow policy-makers, early adopters and the hydrogen mobility industry to validate the readiness of the technology for full commercial roll-out.
Key progress during the project includes:
• 29 HRS built in total. Overall, the H2ME initiative has contributed to deploying 37 HRS in 8 countries to date.
• HRS have now dispensed >165t of H2, incl. 121t (69t from H2ME ) in P4, in 77100 refuelling events. 4 HRS have dispensed >5000kg. These stations are in locations where FCEV taxis are deployed, demonstrating the importance of high-use fleet in promoting business case. The project-average HRS availability is currently 96%. Many of the individual HRS are exceeding the availability target of 97%.
• All 339 FCEVs were deployed. Overall, the H2ME initiative has deployed 632 FCEVs in 10 countries to date. FCEVs have reported >16m km driven since 2015 (8.77m in P4) incl. 8.81m km driven for the H2ME1.
• > 50 reports were produced by the cross-cutting WPs. All public deliverables are available on the project website.
• The project has attended a series of events and organised events, incl. roundtables (in Hamburg, Oct 2019 and Online, Nov 2020) and a European rally reaching Hamburg in Oct 2019.
Key findings of the project include:
• Installation of HRS has revealed significant differences in permitting times, despite the commonality of regulations, codes and standards across the EU. The primary origin being the non-uniform approach adopted in centralised countries compared to decentralised countries: opening a station in a new region may means starting the process of engagement with the authorities each time in the later case. As the HRS network expands, permitting times may not fall uniformly as this expansion will involve installation in constrained locations or locations involving complex stakeholder liaison. Future stations will inevitably involve building in less favourable locations, e.g where space is at a premium, or where local authorities have particular requirements.
• The project-average HRS availability is currently 96%, an increase from the 93% at the end of P3. The reliability of individual HRS increases after initial teething problems, reaching a steady state as problems are ironed out. This is a well-known phenomenon in reliability engineering called the bathtub curve. Many of the individual HRS are exceeding the target of 97%. The analysis conducted on downtime reveals that compressors, dispensers and precooling are the main sources of downtime.
• The project average fuel efficiency for FCEVs is 84 km/kgH2 (1.2 kgH2/100 km). Driving style and use case can have a marked effect on efficiency, e.g aggressiveness of the driving style for a given individual and use case.
• An analysis of WTW emissions of vehicles in Denmark, France and Germany has shown that vehicles have lower emissions than conventional vehicles. In comparing emissions to electric vehicles, the use of renewable hydrogen is crucial in obtaining comparable WTW emissions to battery electric equivalents.
• The majority of fleet operators and drivers have reported positive overall experiences with FCEVs, based on the vehicle performance and refuelling time meeting the operational needs. A need for improvement was identified regarding the purchase price, the number of models available, and in some cases restrictions on underground parking. Some fleet operators and drivers have reported dissatisfaction with the limited number of HRS, reflecting the early stage of the commercial roll-out. Although many users have expressed that HRS reliability requires improvement, some fleet operators have noticed steady improvements to the reliability of stations over time, particularly after the initial teething phase.
• 29 HRS built in total. Overall, the H2ME initiative has contributed to deploying 37 HRS in 8 countries to date.
• HRS have now dispensed >165t of H2, incl. 121t (69t from H2ME ) in P4, in 77100 refuelling events. 4 HRS have dispensed >5000kg. These stations are in locations where FCEV taxis are deployed, demonstrating the importance of high-use fleet in promoting business case. The project-average HRS availability is currently 96%. Many of the individual HRS are exceeding the availability target of 97%.
• All 339 FCEVs were deployed. Overall, the H2ME initiative has deployed 632 FCEVs in 10 countries to date. FCEVs have reported >16m km driven since 2015 (8.77m in P4) incl. 8.81m km driven for the H2ME1.
• > 50 reports were produced by the cross-cutting WPs. All public deliverables are available on the project website.
• The project has attended a series of events and organised events, incl. roundtables (in Hamburg, Oct 2019 and Online, Nov 2020) and a European rally reaching Hamburg in Oct 2019.
Key findings of the project include:
• Installation of HRS has revealed significant differences in permitting times, despite the commonality of regulations, codes and standards across the EU. The primary origin being the non-uniform approach adopted in centralised countries compared to decentralised countries: opening a station in a new region may means starting the process of engagement with the authorities each time in the later case. As the HRS network expands, permitting times may not fall uniformly as this expansion will involve installation in constrained locations or locations involving complex stakeholder liaison. Future stations will inevitably involve building in less favourable locations, e.g where space is at a premium, or where local authorities have particular requirements.
• The project-average HRS availability is currently 96%, an increase from the 93% at the end of P3. The reliability of individual HRS increases after initial teething problems, reaching a steady state as problems are ironed out. This is a well-known phenomenon in reliability engineering called the bathtub curve. Many of the individual HRS are exceeding the target of 97%. The analysis conducted on downtime reveals that compressors, dispensers and precooling are the main sources of downtime.
• The project average fuel efficiency for FCEVs is 84 km/kgH2 (1.2 kgH2/100 km). Driving style and use case can have a marked effect on efficiency, e.g aggressiveness of the driving style for a given individual and use case.
• An analysis of WTW emissions of vehicles in Denmark, France and Germany has shown that vehicles have lower emissions than conventional vehicles. In comparing emissions to electric vehicles, the use of renewable hydrogen is crucial in obtaining comparable WTW emissions to battery electric equivalents.
• The majority of fleet operators and drivers have reported positive overall experiences with FCEVs, based on the vehicle performance and refuelling time meeting the operational needs. A need for improvement was identified regarding the purchase price, the number of models available, and in some cases restrictions on underground parking. Some fleet operators and drivers have reported dissatisfaction with the limited number of HRS, reflecting the early stage of the commercial roll-out. Although many users have expressed that HRS reliability requires improvement, some fleet operators have noticed steady improvements to the reliability of stations over time, particularly after the initial teething phase.
Advancement in commercialisation strategies
• Industry, SMEs and University collaboration - 49 organisations
• Gather evidence for new deployment and business cases: Focus on co-location of demand and HRS usage for different vehicles type; for vehicles, small and large fleet (>100)
• Development of new technologies and services: Maintenance strategies for HRS; Payment by card and app increasingly common; Fleet uses validated for taxi and carsharing
Technical advancements:
• Building a rich dataset valuable for Europe; Achieved since 2016 (as of Q1 2020): 16 million km driven and 165t of H2 distributed (77100 refuelling events)
• Deployment of new FCEV models and HRS technologies: Mercedes-Benz GLC, Hyundai Nexo, Renault Kangoo Z.E. Hydrogen (by Symbio) and Toyota Mirai
• Testing in real work conditions: Product ready for commercialisation; Up to 594 km of driving range – availability close to 100% – reached 100km/1kg H2; Max HRS load reaching 45% - Average availability 96% (best performing HRS have been available for 99.9% of the year) - Stations are able to deliver fast fills back-to-back. The average time spent stopped at the refueller is typically under five minutes
High visibility first of a kind initiative: Largest European deployment to date for hydrogen mobility: 37 HRS and 630 vehicles have been deployed in 10 countries; Largest European deployment to date for hydrogen mobility: 100 Fuel Cell taxis in Paris, 50 Fuel Cell Range Extender vans; First deployment with European vehicles OEMs: First deployment for Mercedes and Symbio; H2ME vehicles took a 6000km road trip through Europe showing the advantages of the technology
Knowledge development: Fostering additional activities in existing regions and for partners: Most advanced coalitions in Germany, Scandinavia, France and the UK collaborating with observer coalitions becoming increasingly active (Benelux, Austria and Italy); Dissemination of results to all relevant stakeholders: To date: > 40 articles and 4 newsletters published, social media presence, 2 conferences and 4 roundtables held in additions to 15 vehicles hand-over and 17 HRS openings and “ride and drives” events, > 40 national events and presentations at conferences; Analysis and summary of key trends and best practices for the sector: To date: 50 reports produced.
• Industry, SMEs and University collaboration - 49 organisations
• Gather evidence for new deployment and business cases: Focus on co-location of demand and HRS usage for different vehicles type; for vehicles, small and large fleet (>100)
• Development of new technologies and services: Maintenance strategies for HRS; Payment by card and app increasingly common; Fleet uses validated for taxi and carsharing
Technical advancements:
• Building a rich dataset valuable for Europe; Achieved since 2016 (as of Q1 2020): 16 million km driven and 165t of H2 distributed (77100 refuelling events)
• Deployment of new FCEV models and HRS technologies: Mercedes-Benz GLC, Hyundai Nexo, Renault Kangoo Z.E. Hydrogen (by Symbio) and Toyota Mirai
• Testing in real work conditions: Product ready for commercialisation; Up to 594 km of driving range – availability close to 100% – reached 100km/1kg H2; Max HRS load reaching 45% - Average availability 96% (best performing HRS have been available for 99.9% of the year) - Stations are able to deliver fast fills back-to-back. The average time spent stopped at the refueller is typically under five minutes
High visibility first of a kind initiative: Largest European deployment to date for hydrogen mobility: 37 HRS and 630 vehicles have been deployed in 10 countries; Largest European deployment to date for hydrogen mobility: 100 Fuel Cell taxis in Paris, 50 Fuel Cell Range Extender vans; First deployment with European vehicles OEMs: First deployment for Mercedes and Symbio; H2ME vehicles took a 6000km road trip through Europe showing the advantages of the technology
Knowledge development: Fostering additional activities in existing regions and for partners: Most advanced coalitions in Germany, Scandinavia, France and the UK collaborating with observer coalitions becoming increasingly active (Benelux, Austria and Italy); Dissemination of results to all relevant stakeholders: To date: > 40 articles and 4 newsletters published, social media presence, 2 conferences and 4 roundtables held in additions to 15 vehicles hand-over and 17 HRS openings and “ride and drives” events, > 40 national events and presentations at conferences; Analysis and summary of key trends and best practices for the sector: To date: 50 reports produced.