Hydrogen mobility | UK
The Welsh company Riversimple, which is reinventing clean mobility with its launch of an “all-inclusive” service for using its hydrogen fuel cell concept cars Rasa, is McPhy’s first customer on the UK HRS market. McPhy, the French specialist for hydrogen equipment serving the energy, transport and industrial markets, will be supplying Riversimple with a McFilling® refueling solution to conduct a full scale trial of an initial series of 20 Rasa cars.
La Motte Fanjas (Drôme, France) and Llandrindod Wells (Powys, Wales), 25 July 2017 – McPhy, the designer, manufacturer and integrator of hydrogen equipment for the energy, transport and industrial sectors, has been chosen by the hydrogen car manufacturer and mobility services company Riversimple to supply it with a first refueling station.
Perfectly aligned with the Rasa’s technical features, the McFilling® 20-350 will enable its users to fill up with hydrogen in less than five minutes to travel 500 km without any health or environmental impacts. Riversimple and McPhy, two pioneers for green hydrogen technologies, are working towards affordable zero emission mobility.
With this first contract, McPhy is entering the UK clean mobility market, which is developing strongly thanks in particular to an ambitious government support program. After announcing in March this year that a further €26m budget would be made available, the UK government will soon be launching a call for projects to deploy stations and promote the adoption of hydrogen-powered electric vehicles.
Unique touring car and business model making it possible to eliminate environmental and public health impacts
The Rasa is a two-seater coupé with a range of 500 km on a full tank of just 1.6 kg of hydrogen at 350 bar of pressure. Its use of a low-powered fuel cell enables it to reach a speed of 100 kph, while it weighs in at just 580 kg thanks to its composites-based chassis and gearbox-free design. This lightweight design is coupled with an inventive powertrain, which means that the Rasa is one of the world’s most efficient vehicles. It is fitted with four motors (one per wheel), which also act as brakes and recover more than 50% of the energy generated by braking to store it in capacitors, send it back to the motors again and provides the energy to accelerate, and was developed with support from the Welsh government.
This next-generation vehicle will be offered as an “all-inclusive” service, including use of the car, maintenance, tyre replacement, assistance, insurance and fuel.
Full-scale trial with an initial series of 20 Rasa cars will be starting up at the end of 2017 for one year. This test will be carried out in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, and will involve around 100 beta testers. The McFilling® hydrogen refueling solution will be a core part of this system. The trial is partially funded by a grant from the European Union.
With McFilling®, McPhy is energizing zero emission mobility
The 20-350 model from the McFilling® range delivers 20 kg of hydrogen per day at a pressure of 350 bar. With its modular, scalable and turnkey design, like all the HRS developed by McPhy, the McFilling® 20-350 has been created for refueling captive fleets with unit capacities up to 6 kg.
Out of the 20 hydrogen refueling stations currently in service in France, eight already use McFilling® solution. They include the Sarreguemines station, the first station combined with an electrolyzer to produce clean hydrogen on-site and on-demand for refueling vehicles.
Committed to driving clean energy forward
“We are delighted that Riversimple has chosen our McFilling® solution to support the project to develop the Rasa, its innovative vehicle, which is opening up the future of affordably-priced clean mobility. We have welcomed the Riversimple team at the demonstration platform for our hydrogen stations in France and they share our vision: “Committed to driving clean energy forward”. This contract will enable us to enter the UK hydrogen mobility market, which is starting to take off”, concludes Pascal Mauberger, McPhy Energy’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“We are impressed with the simplicity and elegance of McPhy’s refueling solutions and are looking forward to installing the first one on UK soil”, confirms Dr Stafford Lloyd, Riversimple’s Systems and Sustainability Engineer, who is leading the refueling station project for the company.
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About McPhy
In the framework of the energy transition, and as a leading supplier of hydrogen production, storage and distribution equipment, McPhy contributes to the deployment of clean hydrogen throughout the world.
Thanks to its wide range of products and services dedicated to the hydrogen energy, zero emission mobility and industrial hydrogen markets, McPhy provides turnkey solutions to its clients. These solutions are tailored to our client applications: renewable energy surplus storage and valorization, fuel cell car refueling, raw material for industrial sites.
As a designer, manufacturer and integrator of hydrogen equipment since 2008, McPhy has three development, engineering and production units based in Europe (France, Italy, Germany).
The company’s international subsidiaries ensure a global sales coverage of McPhy’s innovative hydrogen solutions.
McPhy is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (Segment C, ISIN code: FR0011742329; ticker: MCPHY).
Media relations
Calyptus
Marie-Anne Garigue
T. +33 (0)1 53 65 68 63
About Riversimple
Riversimple is designing and manufacturing highly efficient hydrogen cars in Wales.
Riversimple is a consortium member of SWARM (Demonstration of Small 4-wheel fuel cell passenger vehicle Applications in Regional and Municipal transport). SWARM has received FCH-JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) research funding from the European Union.
Media contact
Catherine Kelly
T. +44 (0)7704 130226
ckellypr@gmail.com
