Zero Emission London Taxis By 2012

As part of a £23 million project with the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board, Intelligent Energy, a clean power systems company with a range of fuel cell and hydrogen generation technologies, has recently been leading a programme to develop a fleet of zero emission London taxis by 2012.

Currently three taxis are undergoing reliability trials, with a total of twenty taxis due to be produced by 2012 - an official unveiling is planned later this year.

Chief executive officer at Intelligent Energy, Henri Winand, said,

“With the price of oil continuing to rise and CO2 emissions increasing, we need to introduce alternatives to the petrol and diesel engine. Fuel cell vehicles offer considerable well-to-wheel emissions savings, and produce no pollution at the tail-pipe. The black cab is an internationally recognised and iconic symbol of London and this partnership is an important part of making low carbon transport a practical and near-term reality. This project is central to our plans to supply zero emissions power systems to the automotive market.”

Intelligent Energy’s other successes in recent years include the development of the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell motorbike (the ENV), a collaboration with Suzuki to manufacture a Fuel Cell powered scooter (the Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter) and supplying a fuel cell system to Boeing which powered the world’s first manned fuel cell aircraft.

We will be following the updates of this story as it progresses on EcoForecourt.com upon launch.