Electric Assisted Vehicles (EAV) Limited, the Oxfordshire-based micro-mobility manufacturer, has been chosen for a unique engineering and operations project, working with the City of Aberdeen in Scotland. The project is supported by investment from the European Union and the Scottish Government and managed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR)
The project brings together a range of partners including DPD Group, H2Range, Unicorn Energy, Energy Expo and Brussels University. The programme aims to validate the use of hydrogen fuel cells for sustainable last-mile deliveries and clean, healthy and liveable cities.
Adam Barmby, EAV founder and CEO, said: “The use of hydrogen fuel cells in the last or even mid-mile scenario is a very interesting proposition. It’s a known fact that the raw materials for battery production are in short supply, which is why EAV focuses on weight reduction, so we use less energy and therefore require less batteries.
“To take this process even further, we’ve wanted to develop a hydrogen fuel cell option. This requires a vehicle to have even less batteries as the electricity comes from the hydrogen reaction which is about as environmentally-friendly as you can get.”
The Interreg NWE’s Fuel Cell Cargo Pedelecs Project (FCCP), aims to validate the use of hydrogen fuel cell last-mile delivery vehicles in seven cities across Europe over 12 months from then the third quarter of 2021. Aberdeen, Stuttgart, Luxembourg and Munich are four of the seven cities in which 36 vehicles will be deployed as part of the validation process.
Leo Bethell, head of partnerships at EAV, said: “Every town and city across the globe must now look at significantly reducing emissions and providing a cleaner, safer environment for its inhabitants.
“This is a technically advanced project and it’s coming to a city which has been at the forefront of advanced engineering in Scotland for the last hundred or so years. We’re pleased to be at the cutting edge of hydrogen fuel cell urban vehicle deployment in the UK.”
EAV will use their established 2Cubed vehicle platform with its patented ‘Cloudframe’ chassis to run the fuel cell system. The 2Cubed has already been successfully tested and is now operated by many household-name delivery businesses across Europe including Asda, Ford’s Spin and Ocado, and used as a ride-hail-taxi service.
With the addition hydrogen fuel cell technology, it’s hoped to further validate an already highly efficient urban lightweight vehicle. The option for hydrogen fuel opens up many other possibilities for EAV.
Barmby concluded: “If we’re powered by hydrogen, we can look at the use of these vehicles and seriously consider them completely replacing vans in all towns and cities worldwide.
“EAV have a complete Transport Futures programme to revolutionise the urban environment and the hydrogen-powered ‘H2EAV’ is the next step towards a simply better future.”
