DaimlerChrysler Fuel Cell Summary

Overview
Fuel cell vehicles offer the best sustainable future perspectives. They have a high efficiency, are quiet and completely pollution-free: only water emits from exhaust systems. As an energy source, compressed hydrogen is the least complex system.

Fuel Cell Vehicle Milestones
Since the 1990s, DaimlerChrysler and its affiliated companies have developed and demonstrated hydrogen and fuel cell technology for automotive applications. DaimlerChrysler is the pioneer in fuel cell development; researchers and engineers have been working toward practical implementations of this technology for well over a decade. DaimlerChrysler presented its first fuel cell concept study for the NECAR series in 1994. Since then, 20 different vehicle prototypes with fuel cell drives have been developed and tested. The vehicles range from the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and the Jeep Commander to the NEBUS.

In 2001, DaimlerChrysler presented the “Natrium” (the Latin word for sodium), which demonstrated an innovative and unconventional method for storing hydrogen: on board a minivan, hydrogen was generated directly from a white salt -- sodium borohydride.

In May 2002, the NECAR 5, a fuel cell vehicle running on methanol, left San Francisco headed 3,000 miles east toward Washington, D.C., on a historic journey that would literally “push the envelope” toward developing and demonstrating new propulsion systems. The NECAR 5 reached its goal and set a long distance record while demonstrating the reliability of fuel cell technology.

Real World Applications
Real world use came to fruition in 2004 when the first F-cell, based on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and powered by fuel cell technology, was subject to everyday conditions around the world. And, across the ocean, 30 Citaro fuel cell city buses are in operation in regular line service routes under varying climatic and topographical conditions in 10 European cities.

In May 2003, DaimlerChrysler joined forces with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and UPS in a collaborative project in which UPS would operate a package delivery vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells. DaimlerChrysler supplied UPS with the first commercial fuel cell vehicle, known as the "F-Cell." It began making its package deliveries in early 2004. The EPA supplied the hydrogen refueling station at the Ann Arbor, MI, facility where the vehicle is housed. In late 2004, the UPS F-Cell vehicle will be joined by two fuel cell powered Dodge Sprinter delivery vans for commercial service use in the USA. The Sprinters will be the first medium-duty fuel cell commercial vehicles in North America.

To date DaimlerChrysler has built more fuel cell powered vehicles than any other auto manufacturer. And, by the close of 2004, DaimlerChrysler will have more than 100 fuel cell vehicles on the road, gaining invaluable practical experience through day-to-day operations.