FedEx recently took delivery of its first North American fuel cell electric delivery van from Plug Power and Workhorse Group.
The class 5 zero emission EGEN delivery van, which was built by Workhorse and charged by a Plug Power ProGen hydrogen engine, is currently in service at the FedEx facility in Menands, NY.
“FedEx is committed to investing in safer and more sustainable transportation solutions in its global network,” said Mitch Jackson, Chief Sustainability Officer, FedEx Corp. “As part of our Reduce, Replace, Revolutionize vehicle strategy, this is one way we’re working to revolutionize transportation while making our communities more livable.”
The ProGen-powered electric delivery van is one of the first of its kind to operate in a standard commercial environment and is deployed on a standard delivery route for FedEx. The Workhorse EGEN class 5, zero emission delivery trucks are designed to meet the needs and expectations of daily delivery duty cycles, as well as save delivery fleet buyers fuel and operational costs, dramatically reducing total cost of ownership over the lifetime of the vehicle.
“The Workhorse EGEN zero-emission delivery vehicle has reinvented package delivery,” said Workhorse CEO Steve Burns. “With the capability of charging enroute, via the onboard ProGen hydrogen engine, range anxiety is virtually eliminated.”
The addition of Plug Power’s ProGen fuel cell enables the vehicle range to exceed 160 miles per delivery cycle, a 166 percent increase over standard battery power alone. To date, the new FCEV has already accumulated more than 3,000 on-road miles in initial tests and is expected to accumulate more than 27,000 miles of on-road driving time in the first six months.
The vehicle refuels using a Plug Power hydrogen fuel station located in Latham, New York. This fueling station is the first hydrogen fueling station in New York State’s Capital Region and one of the first hydrogen refueling stations on the East Coast for on-road vehicles.
“Plug Power remains the leader in developing and deploying hydrogen fuel cell solutions for electric vehicle platforms, and this collaboration with Workhorse and FedEx is the beginning of a hydrogen transformation in the delivery van industry,” said Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh. “Opportunities to provide on-road customers with business-improving power solutions, as we have in our collaboration with FedEx, builds on our significant experience transforming the way our clients in the material handling industry do business.”
In addition to the FedEx FCEV delivery van, Plug Power has 20,000 deployed fuel cells and more than 150 million run hours in mobility applications.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy supports early stage R&D that enables progress in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, and has collaborated with Plug Power, FedEx and Workhorse on this work.
