U.K. Aiming for Leading Edge in FCEV Development

The U.K. government puts a spark under plans for hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) with £11 million ($17.7 million) in funding to prepare for their rollout.

The government will put up £7.5 million ($12.1 million) and industry will contribute £3.5 million ($5.6 million) as part of the U.K.’s drive to become a global leader in ultra-low-emissions vehicles.

Business Minister Matthew Hancock says the money will help finance an initial network of up to 15 hydrogen refueling stations by the end of 2015.

Spending includes £2 million ($3.2 million) to upgrade six to eight existing hydrogen-refueling stations already operational or under development in the U.K. and take them from demonstrator projects to publicly accessible sites.

There is £3.5 million ($5.6 million) of funding to be matched by industry for four to seven new hydrogen-refueling stations. This will include mobile facilities as well as those on stand-alone sites and integrated into conventional gasoline stations.

Another £2 million ($3.2 million) will fund public-sector fleets to encourage deployment of about 40 hydrogen FCEVs in focused geographical clusters.

Earlier this month, Toyota announced the U.K. as one of the first markets for its FCEV when it goes on sale next year.

Hancock, speaking in Japan where he met executives at Honda, Nissan and Toyota, says the new spending is just one of the ways government plans to decarbonize road transport alongside battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

“Britain has become one of the best places in the world to build cars, with the value of those we export outstripping imports for the first time in a generation, but we want to go further,” Hancock says in a statement.

“Hydrogen cars present us with a huge economic opportunity and can bolster our internationally renowned automotive industry. We want to make the U.K. one of the best places in the world to design, manufacture and sell ultra-low emission vehicles.”

President Mike Hawes of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders calls investment in hydrogen fuel infrastructure an important step for the industry.

“As consumer interest in low-emission vehicles increases, the industry is diversifying the range of technologies available with hydrogen-fueled vehicles joining pure-electric, hybrid, alternatively and conventionally powered vehicles,” he says in a statement.

Hawes says the investment is part of a deeper £500 million ($806.2 million) government funding pot to be invested between 2015 and 2020 in the U.K.’s drive to become a global leader in the development and take-up of low-emissions vehicles.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer says establishing 15 hydrogen refueling stations by the end of 2015 will represent a significant first step toward the initial national network of 65.

“By 2040 all new cars and vans will be ultra-low emission vehicles and this could be delivered by a variety of technologies, including plug-in hybrids, pure EVs and hydrogen,” she says. “We want to ensure that support is there for all of these vehicles.”

The announcement comes as Hyundai U.K. names Robin Hayles to the newly created position of sustainable-fuel-development manager. Hayles is to develop and deliver the Korean automaker’s fuel-cell and sustainable-fuels strategy.

The government-industry investment in FCEV development and fueling infrastructure “reaffirms Hyundai’s decision to make the U.K. one of our most important launch markets,” Hayles says in a statement.

Hyundai’s ix35 fuel cell is among the first series-production FCEVs on the market.