Yesterday, gasworld was privy to a UK first and an epoch for environmental transport when Honda, BOC and Forward Swindon unveiled the first open access hydrogen vehicle refuelling station in the country.
Built and operated by industrial gas company BOC, a member of the Linde Group, the venture is located at the Honda UK Manufacturing site in South Marsdon, minutes away from the M4 motorway corridor to London.
Protected by an elegant acoustic cover, the station bears remarkable resemblance to an ordinary refuelling forecourt. Indeed, the filling process is equally similar and completed in four minutes. But unlike ordinary forecourts, vehicles departing the BOC/Honda facility will be carbon footprint free, leaving only water in their wake.
Thomas Brachmann, Head of Electrical Powertrain R&D at Honda demonstrated the process from start to finish as he drove the Honda Clarity into the station for automated re-fuelling. Brachmann described the project a ‘blueprint for future development’.
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