New fuel on the way in UK
For fleet drivers there is probably little excitement right now over the new filling station in Swindon, but they may get excited as cars and trucks change in the next decade. The first hydrogen fuel station opened in Swindon. This “gas” station is located at Honda’s South Marston plant. It is considered an important step towards UK hydrogen vehicles which is seen as a good and viable alternative to petrol and diesel cards. While fleet trucks have yet to see any hydrogen options, some of the vans being released are getting ready to go towards hydrogen use over fuel such as diesel.
In the next few years there will be hundreds of thousands if not millions of vehicles like Honda using hydrogen. While it has yet to come to pass that many drivers have converted the hydrogen station is definitely a good idea. With the ability to fill up with hydrogen in Swindon and potentially more locations to come it will be easier to consider hydrogen vehicles.
These cars are considered pollution free in terms of gas because they use a fuel cell which uses hydrogen and electric power to drive. There are no exhaust emissions since much of the emissions is just water. It is said the water is pure enough to drink.
For fleet drivers the only fuel savings to find at the moment are with fuel cards. However, as technology grows there is a potential for many fleets to start using hydrogen fuelled vehicles. After all, taxi companies use regular cars, so they could start ordering the hydrogen based engines over the fuel engines. Van fleets could also start asking for hydrogen engines.
What the future is for large vehicles is still uncertain, but chances are vehicle manufacturers are working towards a more efficient vehicle such as a hydrogen fuelled HGV in order to start saving the planet and on fuel costs.
Whether many drivers will be around to see it and actually drive these vehicles is unknown. What is known is that the first hydrogen fuel station is in place in Swindon and thus a step towards a brighter and less polluted future has been taken. Already a London based Taxi company is using the station and it is possible that there will be a Mercedes-Benz ambulance with hydrogen fuel instead of regular fuel or diesel which adds to the future potential.
