Once again pioneering work, Coop is now taking a further step in the promotion of hydrogen mobility by bringing one of the first hydrogen trucks to be mass-produced on the road.
A total of seven vehicles of this type will be circulating on Swiss roads by the end of the year. Each of them saves Coop some 80 tonnes of CO 2 per year, a promising contribution to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
After the opening of the first public hydrogen filling station in Hunzenschwil (AG) and the use of a small fleet of hydrogen-powered company vehicles, Coop is today launching the first hydrogen truck in collaboration with the Swiss company H2 Energy AG and Hyundai Motor Company. Six more hydrogen trucks are expected by the end of the year. Coop will use them for the delivery of its points of sale; it also intends to open other hydrogen service stations and thus continue to promote hydrogen mobility in Switzerland.
Hydrogen, a sustainable driving energy
In 2008, Coop set itself the goal of achieving a neutral CO 2 balance by 2023 in the relevant areas of the company. It is therefore continuously reducing its energy consumption while relying on renewable energies to reduce its CO 2 emissions.. In addition, it works to promote hydrogen mobility, convinced that hydrogen is a source of energy with high potential. With this new hydrogen truck, Coop advocates a sustainable form of electromobility. The electric motor produces the current necessary for propulsion from hydrogen. This technology makes an important contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases because apart from water vapor, it is not a source of any polluting emissions: neither CO 2 , nor soot particles, nor nitrogen oxide.
Collaboration with Hyundai
As part of the “Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility” joint venture, Coop today purchased one of the world’s very first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks from Hyundai. Hyundai is the world leader in hydrogen fuel cells; it has developed this technology to the point where its results are now comparable to those of conventional trucks in terms of performance as well as the time required to refuel and range.
Mobilité H2 Suisse: the association for the promotion of hydrogen mobility
The mobility association H2 Suisse was created at the initiative of Coop in May 2018 by seven major service station operators and transport and logistics companies. “The H2 mobility association promotes clean individual motorized mobility in Switzerland without CO 2 emissions. To achieve this, it relies on hydrogen fuel cell technology and on the private business model”, explains Jörg Ackermann, member of the Coop management and President of the association. It has set itself the objective of setting up by 2023 a network of hydrogen service stations covering the whole of Switzerland.
Source: Coop
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