GM to partner EPA for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles commercialisation

Mumbai: In a bid to promote clean and healthier environment, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and General Motors have come together as part of a long-standing commitment to hydrogen fuel cell commercialisation, said GM.

With the delivery of a Chevy Equinox fuel cell electric vehicle, the EPA will be the newest participant in Chevrolet's 'Project Driveway,' an innovative market test that is helping to bring fuel cell electric vehicle technology to market.

Over the next six months, the motor pool at the EPA headquarters in Washington DC will use the vehicle to conduct emissions free tests while allowing the on-board electronic recording devices to track the real-world performance data.

EPA's participation in 'Project Driveway' is the latest partnership with GM in which the agency has helped the automaker test advanced propulsion systems. In 2005, EPA provided performance feedback for more than a year on GM's HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicle, which helped the development of the Chevy Equinox fuel cell electric vehicle, currently on roads today. The zero greenhouse gases emission system uses no petroleum with clean water vapour, the only emitted residue, according to the automaker.

Project Driveway is an important facet of Chevrolet's ''Gas Friendly to Gas Free'' strategy to offer advanced technologies that enable a variety of fuel solutions and remove the automobile from the environment and energy equation. More than 100 Equinox fuel cell vehicles are in the hands of real customers to help Chevy and GM understand what it will take to bring larger numbers of fuel cell vehicles to customers around the world. Currently, the programme has launched in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC, with further deployments in Europe and Asia later this year.