A British car maker - Microcab - will launch its new hydrogen fuel cell powered H2EV car later this week.

Microcab H2EV

A British car maker – Microcab – will launch its new hydrogen fuel cell powered H2EV car later this week.

Just last week we had the opening of the first public hydrogen filling station in the UK at Honda;s plant in Swindon, and now we get the launch of a new, British built, hydrogen fuel cell car – the Microcab H2EV.

The H2EV uses a hydrogen fuel cell to provide 3kW of power to run the electric motor and gets a Lotus designed chassis and a claimed range of 100 miles.

But although the range of 100 miles is pretty much in line with what you’d expect from an EV, the joy of a hydrogen fuel cell car is that it can be refuelled in the same sort of time it takes an ICE car – minutes instead of hours.

Of course, the problem in these early stages is a refuelling network. Although there are a number of private hydrogen filling stations in the UK, the only public one is in Swindon. But that will change rapidly as hydrogen fuel cell cars start to become a reality, and the estimated cost of kitting out the UK’s petrol stations to deliver hydrogen too is a not insurmountable £500 million or so.

For now, it’s early days for hydrogen, and Microcab – who are an offshoot of Coventry University – are rolling out a small fleet of H2EVs for West Midlands’ CABLED (Coventry and Birmingham Low Emission Demonstrator) to grab some attention and see how they work in the real world.

Microcab’s MD John Jostins, who just happens to be a Professor of Sustainable Transport design at Coventry University, said:

We’re thrilled to be launching our new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle into the CABLED trial here in the West Midlands.
The H2EV represents a significant step in the development of hydrogen as an alternative energy source of the future for cars, and the launch of the new filling station in Swindon – alongside the existing private stations at Coventry University and in Birmingham – is another milestone for the low-carbon industry.

A very good move, and so much more practical and sensible than a BEV – eventually.