The postal service in France, La Poste, will be testing hydrogen fuel cell range extenders in their fleet of electric vehicles.
Making the switch from its current diesel-powered fleet of mail delivery vehicles, to electric vehicles, has only been a partial success for La Poste, the French postal service. The new electric vehicles, a fleet of Renault Kangoo ZE pure electric microvans, have been great for short deliveries but, with its short 106mi range, longer delivery routes have been left to the existing diesel-powered fleet. In the cold winter and hot summer months, the climate control system puts extra strain on the battery, further reducing range. The solution, of course, is to have a range-extender, and what better range-extender could there be, but a clean hydrogen fuel cell range-extender from Symbio FCell?
A range-extender is exactly what makes certain electric vehicles, such as the BMW i3 and Chevy Volt, much easier to adopt, since there is almost zero chance of getting stuck on the side of the road. Symbio FCell, a hydrogen fuel cell developer, has designed an add-on system for pure electric vehicles, and will be conducting real-world testing with the Renault Kangoo ZE fleet run by La Poste.
The Symbio FCell hydrogen fuel cell range-extender should double the range of the Kangoo ZE and make it possible to eliminate the rest of the diesel-powered delivery trucks that are still in service. In a statement, Fabio Ferrari, Symbio FCell CEO, said, “Symbio FCell is proud to participate in the improvement of urban area environments by facilitating the deployment of electric vehicles. As of today, we can demonstrate that with long range electrical solutions, a viable business model exists for zero emission city center delivery.”
Image © LaPoste
