Controlled Hydrogen Fleet and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project

This report summarizes the work conducted under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under contract DE-FC36-04GO14285 by Mercedes-Benz & Research Development, North America (MBRDNA), Chrysler, Daimler, Mercedes Benz USA (MBUSA), BP, DTE Energy and NextEnergy to validate fuel cell technologies for infrastructure, transportation as well as assess technology and commercial readiness for the market. The Mercedes Team, together with its partners, tested the technology by operating and fuelling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles under real world conditions in varying climate, terrain and driving conditions. Vehicle and infrastructure data was collected to monitor the progress toward the hydrogen vehicle and infrastructure performance targets of $2.00 to 3.00/gge hydrogen production cost and 2,000-hour fuel cell durability. Finally, to prepare the public for a hydrogen economy, outreach activities were designed to promote awareness and acceptance of hydrogen technology. DTE, BP and NextEnergy established hydrogen filling stations using multiple technologies for on-site hydrogen generation, storage and dispensing. DTE established a hydrogen station in Southfield, Michigan while NextEnergy and BP worked together to construct one hydrogen station in Detroit. BP constructed another fueling station in Burbank, California and provided a full-time hydrogen trailer at San Francisco, California and a hydrogen station located at Los Angeles International Airportmore.