Icelandic New Energy and Brimborg, Ford retailer in Iceland, have the pleasure of announcing still further steps in demonstrating hydrogen as fuel for transport; hydrogen which is made from water and renewable power from local resources. Ten Ford Focus FCV will be integrated into the traffic in Reykjavik in December 2009. These are all used fuel cell vehicles and the goal of this project step is to further test customer acceptance and endurance of the fuel cell technology. Since 1999 Icelandic New Energy has been acting as a facilitator to integrate hydrogen as fuel into society. Using electro-mobility is a natural extension of the local energy infrastructure, which runs entirely on renewable energy. Using local electricity to substitute for carbonated imported fuel has been a central policy of Icelandic government throughout the twentieth century and may lead to the benchmarking achievement in a country that has been highly dependent on the import of fossil fuels.

Ford recognition of Iceland’s experience, research and skills in handling hydrogen is the key reason for testing the durability and further enhancement of mapping customer acceptance in Iceland. Shell Hydrogen in cooperation with Skeljungur have kept a commercial refueling station running for 6 years, with >98% uptime in the last 2 years. This achievement along with trained researcher and maintenance staff for both vehicles and infrastructure makes Iceland an extremely attractive location for hydrogen and fuel cell testing. Two Ford vehicles have already been in use in Iceland rendering good experience. The addition will make the total hydrogen vehicle fleet the largest one in Europe with 22 H2 vehicles in service in Reykjavik.