Hydrogen Mobility Europe (H2ME2)
Case Study
The Challenge
Hydrogen Mobility Europe (2015-2023) was the largest European hydrogen light duty vehicle and refuelling infrastructure demonstration. The primary aim of H2ME was to demonstrate that operating zero tailpipe-emission fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in urban applications can be viable for fleets compared to diesel alternatives.
The Development
The FCEVs were deployed with working fleets in a variety of roles, including as taxis and police vehicles, as well as with private customers, over the course of the project.
Over the nine years of the project, Cenex conducted extensive data capture and analysis of the FCEV and hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) performance to establish the technical readiness of vehicles and stations for wider deployment.
Cenex also conducted a review of the permitting process and regulations, codes and standards (RCS) involved in installing HRS in different European countries.
The Result
The project compiled an unrivalled dataset of hydrogen vehicle operation and refuelling: 1,400 hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles have been deployed in 10 countries and 49 new hydrogen refuelling stations installed in 8 countries, achieving over 40 million km driven and 915 tonnes of hydrogen dispensed across 360,000 refuelling events.
Detailed analysis of the well-to-wheel (WTW) emissions (i.e. emissions from fuel production, transportation and dispensing, as well as usage) in the project showed that FCEVs achieve lower WTW emissions than diesel or gasoline vehicles even using fossil fuel-derived hydrogen. Emission savings compared to diesel or gasoline vehicles are increased significantly when low carbon or renewable (wind- or nuclear electrolysis-derived) hydrogen is used.
The evidence collected and reported by Cenex during the project shows that the FCEVs have been integrated into fleets with minimal disruption and are used in the same ways (in terms of distance travelled per day, etc.) as conventionally fuelled vehicles.
Taxis represent the most intensive vehicle and HRS use case explored by H2ME2, but even these levels of usage are insufficient to provide sustainable operation. Therefore, hydrogen mobility strategies should initially focus on heavy-duty applications to provide the anchor demand for new installations. This will provide a stronger business case to HRS operators.
Funder:
Partners:
H2ME involves more than 40 Partners from 9 countries, drawing together their expertise from across the transport, hydrogen and energy industries.
Key Skills:
- Defining trial parameters and project data collection protocols
- Analysis and reporting of FCEV and HRS performance
- Well-to-wheel emissions analysis and comparison
- Modelling the performance of high-throughput HRS