Fuel cell research findings released

Early findings indicate that, in comparison with battery-powered lift trucks, hydrogen fuel cell lift trucks maintain comparable performance while significantly reducing refueling time.

By Staff December 21, 2007

The Raymond Corporation announced yesterday that its research into hydrogen fuel cell-powered lift truck performance has led to some interesting findings. The research commenced in January, at its Greene, NY, manufacturing facility, where hydrogen fuel cell-powered lift trucks were implemented in real applications, in a “living lab” setting, using an indoor, fast-fill hydrogen refueling system.
Early findings in the study indicate that, in comparison with battery-powered lift trucks, hydrogen fuel cell lift trucks maintain comparable performance while significantly reducing refueling time. Braking distance and maximum travel and lift speeds of the fuel cell truck are equivalent to that of a battery-powered lift truck, and refueling at the indoor refueling station takes only a couple of minutes, compared with the up to 20 minutes it takes to remove and replace a battery from the same truck model.
The study also foundtruck’s center of gravity. Future lift trucks may have the fuel cells wholly incorporated into the design of the trucks to address these issues.
Other areas that Raymond is studying include:




“Raymond is committed to helping the materials handling industry realize the higher productivity and environmentally clean technology that hydrogen fuel cells can offer,” said Steve Medwin, manager of advanced research for Raymond. “We will continue to share the results of our research as it becomes available.”
The two-year research program was developed in conjunction with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York Power Authority , to review the performance of hydrogen fuel cells in lift trucks and the development of indoor hydrogen fueling stations in a real-life manufacturing environment.