The BMW Group, Linde Material Handling and Munich Technical University have received grant notification from the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development for the development of a fleet of hydrogen-powered forklift trucks and tow tractors for logistics trains. The funding of the research project that will run until April 2016 is being carried out under the National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP) and amounts to a sum of ? 2.9 million.
The aim of the project is to test the eco-friendly and efficient hydrogen drive system in industrial trucks under realistic production conditions and optimise it for industrial-scale production. Charging cycles, battery replacement and the maintenance of common lead/acid batteries require relatively long downtimes for conventional trucks. The fuel cell hybrid system for forklift trucks and tractors, however, is refuelled within just a few minutes and requires very little maintenance – thus the vehicles offer higher availability.
The preparations for this unprecedented field trial in Germany are currently underway at the BMW plant in Leipzig. This involves the setting up of Germany's first indoor hydrogen refuelling station in the production shop for BMW i automobiles. For this project, Linde Material Handling is providing the industrial trucks fitted with fuel cell system and hydrogen tank that are envisaged for the supply of parts in production. The university will oversee the scientific monitoring and evaluation of ecological and economic sustainability. Last but not least, BMW will test the technology under everyday conditions in a real production environment, using CO2-neutral hydrogen.