First Hydrogen and Rivus, a Member of the UK AHFC partner for LCV trials

First Hydrogen Corp. partners with multi-award-winning fleet management provider and member of the UK Aggregated Hydrogen Freight Consortium (AHFC), Rivus to start operational trials with a first-of-its-kind hydrogen-fuel-cell powered vehicle (FCEV).

Rivus is the first company to participate in vehicle trials with First Hydrogen’s Generation I zero-emission LCVs, coordinated through the AFHC, which is led by Element Energy with input from the global industrial members of UK H2Mobility. The consortium works together with large UK fleet operators to accelerate the commercial rollout of fuel cell vans and trucks and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

Rivus will test First Hydrogen’s light commercial vehicles (“LCV”) for a month in the Birmingham and Sheffield areas, which are served by hydrogen refuelling stations. Rivus will run First Hydrogen’s vehicle on pre-planned routes to measure performance under different driving conditions.

Telematics and onboard instruments will capture data on vehicle performance, efficiency, and fuel consumption. The findings will contribute to First Hydrogen’s overall evaluation and mileage accumulation programme, which supports vehicle optimisation and determines the Total Cost of Ownership.

The trials enable fleet managers from sectors including grocery, express delivery, utilities, healthcare, and roadside assistance, to experience the benefits of FCEVs within their own operations. Hydrogen powertrains possess a greater range, higher payload capacity and faster refuelling than equivalent battery electric vehicles.

First Hydrogen’s vehicle has a range of 400-600km on a single fuel tank filled at 700 bar, which takes approximately five minutes to fill. The programme enables operators to compare different vehicle technologies in action. Fifteen (15) major fleet operators have registered an interest in taking part in First Hydrogen’s 12-18-month LCV trial programme.

Upon completion of the trial, Rivus will produce its own independent report analysing the performance of the hydrogen-powered LCV, which will be available to fleet managers and Rivus customers. The report will share valuable insight into the benefits and practicality of adopting hydrogen mobility.

Steve Gill says, “It is incredibly valuable to partner with Rivus for the first of our vehicle fleet trials. As highly regarded fleet specialists, we’re keen to receive Rivus’ feedback. They will put the vehicle through its paces and test it under various duty cycles. Their findings will showcase our vehicle’s capabilities to a new audience of fleet customers and create market demand. Rivus’ input will help us to optimise performance and will also inform our plans for future vehicle development and deployment. The team’s expertise will also help us to support fleet operators to switch to zero-emission vehicles.”

Thomas Maerz comments: “We are delighted to be the first trial participants and for our drivers to test this first-of-its-kind, zero-emission commercial vehicle. Having this time to evaluate the vehicle’s capabilities will significantly add to our insight into alternative fuels, especially in the LCV class. In light of 2030 targets, this knowledge enables us to help operators with critical fleets that need to transition to zero emission. Providing this support gives our customers confidence in their transition and fuels our ambition to create a cleaner and more sustainable future.”