Ford hydrogen fuel cell vehicles greatly outperform expectations

(Note: To learn more about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their potential to solve the oil crisis, please read the series of articles titled “Twelve Hydrogen Facts” which is part of the Hydrogen Manhattan Project.)

Here are two quotes from an AutoblogGreen post on August 19th by Sebastian Blanco:

“PRESS RELEASE:

FORD FUEL CELL FLEET EXCEEDS PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS, TEST PROGRAM EXTENDED

* The first generation Focus Fuel Cell vehicles have performed better than expected, exceeding 865,000 real world miles and earning praise from fleet users around the world.
* Ford has extended its three-year-old hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle program for up to 24 months.
* Ford is developing a next generation fuel cell vehicle that will build on the success of the current program with improved performance, reliability and efficiency.

DEARBORN, Mich., August 19, 2008 – Ford Motor Company’s fleet of 30 fuel cell vehicles has exceeded expectations of the company’s hydrogen research engineers by accumulating more than 865,000 real world miles without significant maintenance issues since the fleet’s launch three years ago. The Ford Focus Fuel Cell test vehicles also have earned accolades from the company’s global fleet partners for outstanding durability, reliability and capability.

Encouraged by the program’s success, Ford recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to extend its three-year-old hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle program for up to 24 months, until the next generation system is ready for deployment in the 2010 timeframe.”

“According to Ford’s global fuel cell team, the first generation Focus Fuel Cell vehicles have lasted three times longer and worked much better than originally expected with virtually no degradation in performance. In light of that success, the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE), which shares the program’s operating cost with Ford, agreed to extend the program.

‘We’ve had a lot of great experience with these cars and they’re running quite well,’ said Scott Staley, Ford hybrid and fuel cell development chief engineer in North America. ‘We expected the fuel cells to be much more problematic under real world conditions, but it’s a credit to our development process that the vehicles have been very robust.’

Ford supports its fuel cell fleet partners with local project managers and technicians who conduct regular service checks, and collect mileage and performance data for analysis at Ford’s Fuel Cell Center in Dearborn, Mich. The vehicles have proven highly reliable, averaging 96 percent ‘up’ time. Customer surveys indicate that Ford’s fuel cell vehicles have outperformed those of other automakers in areas of acceleration, comfort (primarily air conditioning performance), durability, reliability and mileage.”