Cold weather conditions usually present challenges for most types of automotive vehicle.  Some of these are listed below:

• Diesel vehicles require the fuel to be pre-heated before ignition
• Petrol vehicles require a higher petrol -to-air concentration at startup
• Battery vehicles can suffer from a faster power drain

So what are the challenges facing a hydrogen vehicle? Well that really depends on what type of vehicle you have – Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (HICE) work much in the same way as a traditional car engine and present less of a challenge. However, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles present a slightly different challenge because water is produced in the cell as one of the outputs and freezes at 0°C. If no countermeasures are taken then some water typically gets left in the fuel cell when it powers down.

The end result can be water getting stuck in the fuel cell before start up because it has frozen. This can both cause damage to the components of the fuel cell as well as failure to start. Manufacturers such as GM and Honda are believed to have worked around this issue by extracting all water from the membranes during shutdown: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/automobiles/12CELL.html

It is worth noting that once the fuel cell is running, heat is a by-product and maintains an operational temperature within the cell.
Most manufacturers have now achieved operability down to temperatures as low as -20°C, although the technology behind this is still very secretive.

I noticed an article on the BBC last week that mentioned that the Honda FCX Clarity had finally landed in the UK (Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11297952). The article was quite informative and gave a good rundown of the benefits of hydrogen vs batteries.

After further research I discovered that the Honda was being refuelled at Loughborough University's onsite refuelling station (part of the "Midlands Hydrogen Ring" of refuelling stations). Honda has brought the ground-breaking hydrogen fuel cell car, the FCX Clarity, to the UK for the first time, to take part in a series of high profile test drives to raise awareness of the zero emission technology.

Dr Rupert Gammon, Visiting Researcher based in Loughborough University’s Innovation Centre and Chair of the British Midlands Hydrogen Forum, added: “Progress towards environmentally friendly motoring is gathering significant momentum and this region is at the heart if the movement."

“Here at Loughborough University in particular, we are dedicated to bringing zero emission technology to the motoring industry and the hydrogen refuelling station was installed on the campus to enable us to drive forward research in this area. It is therefore both very fitting and exciting that the revolutionary FCX Clarity is to make a refuelling stop here on its first visit to the UK.”

Large scale testing of the FCX Clarity has been ongoing for some time now in both Japan and California, but has not seen as much activity in Europe due to the lack of hydrogen infrastructure. Honda are expecting support to grow for the Clarity as more infrastructure falls into place, citing 2015 as the year for much larger mass production of the car.

An excellent, 32-page publicity pack for the Honda FCX Clarity can be found here: http://www.fcxclarity-media.co.uk/

ITM Power has today announced it will be working as part of a collaboration with Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and Johnson Matthey to reduce vehicle emissions and improve engine efficiency. The project will focus on the engine, engine management and aftertreatment systems. ITM will be facilitating the on-board generation of hydrogen which will then be used for emissions treatment/reduction.

Three vehicles will be built to demonstrate the potential of the technology - petrol and diesel cars and a diesel hybrid bus.

 ITM Power will receive £246,975 of grant funding under the project.

It looks like your typical London Taxi but this one packs a secret under the bonnet. It is in fact powered by a fuel cell and manufactured under a collaborative agreement between Lotus, Intelligent Energy, TRW Conekt and LTI Vehicles. The intention is to have 20 of these vehicles up and running by the time the 2012 Olympics arrive.

The appearance of the black cab is near enough identical to the ones commonly seen traversing London's busy streets. Much of the technology is hidden underneath the chassis and in the boot of the black cab. It sports a hydrogen storage tank, fuel cell, battery and electric motors. This vehicle is infact a hydrogen-electric hybrid: the fuel cell provides the initial source of power whilst the battery provides additional "top up" power and is charged via regenerative braking.

With the exception of range the taxi compares favourably with it's more traditional counterpart:

• Top speed: 80mph
• 0-60mph time: 15.5 seconds (7 seconds faster than the traditional model)
• Range: 250 miles (gentle driving), 160 miles (aggressive driving)
• Power: The fuel cell provides 30kW, while the electric motor produces 55kW with a 100kW peak
• New rear suspension provided by Lotus

The taxi's fuel cell is provided by Intelligent Energy, who pioneered the first manned fuel cell aircraft flight. The vehicle is anticipated to be refuelled by any one of six London Hydrogen filling stations which will also be in place by the 2012 Olympics. The retail price is yet to be defined, but it is likely to be somewhat more expensive than the current Black cab.