Another step forward in making hydrogen a viable alternative fuel

Ford Motor Company, which has made much progress in hydrogen technology, now, with its energy partner, BP, opened a second hydrogen station at Oviedo in Florida on December 11. With this, the Ford Motor Company, BP, and the state of Florida have marked an important milestone in their collective path towards the use of hydrogen as viable alternative fuel for the future. The station will fuel a fleet of Ford Focus fuel cell vehicles. The Ford Motor Company continues to support this project with the much needed infrastructure to fuel its vehicle fleet. This is another major milestone in this joint government and industry initiative.

One of the hydrogen-powered Ford Focus vehicles gives the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) park rangers a pollution-free ride during everyday operations at Wekiwa Springs State Park, which attracts nearly 185,000 visitors annually. Home to a handful of freshwater springs, the 8,000-acre park protects the headwaters of the Wekiva River. Two more vehicles are utilized by DEP’s Central Regulatory District for field inspections. Progress Energy’s energy-efficiency specialists and customer account managers are using the remaining three hydrogen-fueled cars at their Jamestown Operations Center.

The hydrogen demonstration project is part of an initiative unveiled in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Energy. Through the federal government's Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project, Ford supplied the Florida DEP and Progress Energy with six hydrogen-powered FordFocus fuel cell vehicles. BP America supplies the cars with hydrogen fuel through a grant from the state of Florida.

Ford, Chevron and Progress Energy Florida opened the state's first hydrogen station in Orlando in May. This station fuels four Ford Hydrogen-powered shuttle buses used at the Orlando airport and provides a test platform for showcasing the production, storage and dispensing of hydrogen fuel.

The company currently has a fleet of 30 hydrogen-powered Focus fuel cell vehicles on the road as part of a worldwide, seven-city program to conduct real world testing of fuel cell technology. The fleet has accumulated more than 650,000 miles since its inception. With this fleet on the ground, information is being generated in different local environmental conditions that can be integrated into future fuel cell vehicle propulsion systems.

As a hydrogen infrastructure is developed and implemented for the fleet at each of its locations, lessons learned are being generated to insure that the customer and hydrogen fueling interface is seamless and customer friendly.