Hydrogen vans from Opel and Peugeot with 400 km range will appear this year

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Stellantis, the new parent company of Opel and Peugeot, among others, is working on hydrogen-electric delivery vans. The vans can store 4.4 kg of hydrogen, which should allow a WLTP range of more than 400 kilometers.

For the vans, Stellantis will use the Citroën Jumpy, Peugeot Expert and Opel Vivaro models. These run on the EMP2 platform, which already supplies electric delivery vans. This platform will modify Stellantis to make the hydrogen-electric delivery vans. Stellantis works for the delivery vans with Faurecia and Symbio. Faurecia will supply the hydrogen storage systems, Symbio will supply the fuel cell system.

The delivery vans will have three type IV hydrogen tanks that store hydrogen gas at 700 bar. These have a capacity of 4.4 kilograms and can be fully refueled within three minutes. The Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell will have a power of 45 kW. This converts the hydrogen into electricity, which is stored on a 10.5 kWh lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 90 kW. If necessary, it can be charged with a maximum of 11 kW via a charging cable. It takes about an hour to fully charge the battery. The delivery vans can also run on that battery without hydrogen, then they have a range of fifty kilometers.

The single electric motor of the vans delivers a maximum of 100kW or 136hp and 260Nm. The top speed is 130 km/h and acceleration from zero to 100 km/h takes 15 seconds. The vans are supplied in an L2 or a larger L3 version. A van is 4,959 meters to 5,306 meters long, 1,965 to 1,975 meters high and always 2,204 meters wide, including the door mirrors. The loading capacity is 5.3m3 to 6.1m3 and a maximum of 1100kg. The vans can also be supplied with a tow bar, with which the vans can tow a maximum of 1000 kg.

Stellantis says it finds hydrogen especially interesting for light commercial vehicles, such as these delivery vans. For delivery vans, hydrogen electric would be better than EVs with batteries, because of the combination of a large range and a short pumping time. In addition, the hydrogen delivery vans have as much cargo space as the combustion engine variants. The hydrogen tanks are located in the bottom of the van and the battery is under the seats. This battery is mainly used during the start-up of the delivery vans and when extra power is needed. In addition, the battery enables regenerative braking.

For the development of the delivery vans, Stellantis will receive a subsidy of 5.6 million euros from the German government. The first hydrogen-electric delivery vans must be delivered before the end of 2021. Stellantis targets business customers first. No price has yet been announced for the vans.

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