Global fuel cell market test fleet reaches two million test miles

ADAC HydroGen4 fuel cell car covered the two millionth mile

Rüsselsheim/Detroit. An Opel HydroGen4 fuel cell demonstration vehicle covered the two millionth mile of GM’s global fuel cell market test fleet. The car has been used since early 2009 by ADAC, the biggest roadside assistance organization in Europe. GM and Opel have accumulated more miles with their fuel cell passenger car fleet than any other auto manufacturer.

“This milestone is a significant landmark on our road to making hydrogen fuel cells a reality. We will take the knowledge gained through our global fleets to help improve the affordability and reliability of our hydrogen fuel cell technology as we continue to weigh potential commercial applications in the future,” says Charlie Freese, executive director of GM’s global fuel cell engineering activities.

The Opel HydroGen4 fleet is part of the „Clean Energy Partnership“ (CEP), an European lighthouse project funded by the German ministry of transport. Since 2008 ten HydroGen4 cars driven by partners like ADAC, Allianz, Bild/Axel Springer AG, Coca-Cola, Enertrag, Hilton, IKEA, Linde, Pace and Total in the Berlin region are testing the fuel cell technology and the hydrogen re-fueling and infrastructure on a daily basis, while providing many different usage profiles.

The CEP project was extended in 2010 and 2011 to include the Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse regions. Opel will support this deployment by strengthening its market test fleet in Germany.