The brand new mannequin – not but revealed – relies on the platform-sharing Citroen e-Dispatch/Peugeot e-Professional/Vauxhall Vivaro-e electrical vans, however the know-how is changed by a brand new hydrogen gas cell system.

The set-up is described by Stellantis as a mid-power system. It includes a 60bhp gas cell stack beneath the bonnet, which is related to 3 hydrogen tanks that may carry 4.4kg of hydrogen and are mounted beneath the cargo ground, rather than the electrical van’s 50kWh battery. 

As well as, there is a 10.5kWh battery mounted beneath the seats which could be plugged in to be recharged. This supplies energy for the 121bhp electrical motor which drives the entrance wheels and provides as much as 31 miles of vary by itself. Stellantis guarantees that the mixed gas cell system might be simply able to greater than 250 miles (topic to official WLTP exams) of zero-emissions driving, whereas three-minute refill occasions for the hydrogen system are far shorter than these for the electrical vans.

The set-up is designed to combine energy sources, so the battery supplies energy from a standstill, at low speeds and beneath acceleration, whereas the gas cell takes over at cruising speeds when much less power is required. As with full EVs, the system recoups power again into the battery when coasting or decelerating.

Improvement of the gas cell system was led by Opel’s R&D division with enter from Peugeot/Citroen and French hydrogen specialists Faurecia and Symbio. This joint effort has sped up improvement and means the primary vans will hit the roads earlier than the tip of 2021.

Hydrogen charging stations are nonetheless scarce throughout Europe, however these new fashions have acquired direct funding from the German authorities for his or her improvement, and are backed by a multi-billion Euros funding in EU hydrogen charging infrastructure being rolled out by French and German governments forward of the EU’s goal for carbon neutrality in 2050. 

At the moment there are 25 hydrogen refuelling factors in France, and 90 in Germany, with extra being added each month.

Stellantis’s hydrogen gas cell tech is for vans solely in the intervening time, nevertheless it may simply make the leap to passenger automobiles within the type of the Citroen SpaceTourer and Peugeot Traveller MPVs. There are presently no plans to provide a hydrogen Vauxhall Vivaro van, as a result of the gas cell system has solely been developed for left-hand drive fashions. Nevertheless, Stellantis sees this undertaking as its first step in hydrogen gas cell improvement, and it’ll drive analysis into its second-generation methods for its broad vary of vehicles and vans.

Costs are to be confirmed, however Stellantis is attempting to maintain prices as little as attainable through the use of its current van tech and bringing in hydrogen specialists to speed up its improvement. The agency is specializing in whole price of possession (TCO) and attempting to draw as many companies on board from the begin to assist scale back prices.

Click on right here to learn our assessment of the all-electric Vauxhall Vivaro-e van…