Vancouver, British Columbia – First Hydrogen Corp. (TSXV: FHYD) (OTC Pink: FHYDF) (FSE: FIT) (“FIRST HYDROGEN” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its two light commercial vehicles (LCVs) have been certified legal on United Kingdom (UK), excluding Northern Ireland, roads by the Vehicle Certification Authority.
The vehicles will now be able to undertake customer trials on public roads commencing January 2023 for a period of 24 months during which the Company expects to collect significant proprietary data from fleet owners and to capture high-level interest for future orders. The vans will be trialled in real-world conditions with major fleet operators initially in the UK and enable the Company to publicly showcase its leading design and accelerate the adoption by light commercial vehicle owners of fuel cell-powered vehicles to replace aging diesel fleets. A total of 13 UK fleet operators in various industries including telecoms, utilities, infrastructure, delivery, grocery and healthcare have signed up to participate in the trials.
These two demonstrator vehicles will showcase the advantages fuel cell electric vehicles have over battery electric vehicles in terms of range and refuelling speed. First Hydrogen vehicles offer 400-600km of range on a single refuelling, which takes a matter of minutes. The certification is a significant milestone for the Company and will help with further approvals required as First Hydrogen scales up its vehicle demonstrator program to trial the vehicles in the European Union, United States and Canada. The global light commercial vehicle market is projected to reach $786.5 billion by 2030 (according to Allied Research) and First Hydrogen’s vehicles will help the sector meet zero emission targets.
First Hydrogen is also working in parallel to arrange green hydrogen generation and distribution under its “Hydrogen as a Service” or Haas program to provide a holistic solution to the market. First Hydrogen’s plans are underway in the UK, Europe, and North America to provide this solution.
Steve Gill, CEO of Automotive for First Hydrogen said: “This is an important step which validates our engineering and technical expertise. The whole team has worked hard to deliver this certification and we can now move forward with the important customer trials commencing in early 2023.”
Balraj Mann, Chairman and CEO of First Hydrogen Corp. states, “We are proud of our Automotive team and their recent accomplishments. I am excited about the groundwork laid by the whole team and, as we move forward, executing our business plan in the coming months. Green hydrogen is becoming a clean alternative answer to fossil fuels.”
About First Hydrogen Corp. (FirstHydrogen.com)
First Hydrogen Corp. is a Vancouver and London UK-based company focused on zero-emission vehicles, green hydrogen production and distribution and supercritical carbon dioxide extractor systems. The Company is designing and building hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered light commercial demonstrator vehicles (“LCV”) under two agreements with AVL Powertrain and Ballard Power Systems Inc. The LCV will have a range of 500+ kilometres. At the same time, the company has launched its bespoke vehicle design phase which will develop its fleet of proprietary zero-emission vehicles. First Hydrogen is also developing refueling capability working with FEV Consulting GmbH, the automotive consultancy of FEV Group of Aachen Germany. The Company is also pursuing opportunities in green hydrogen production and distribution in the UK, EU and North America.
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