One Billion Dollars, One Million Miles and 50,000 Gallons of Fuel
27 Septembre 2005 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
DaimlerChrysler Fuel Cell Vehicles Save Over 50,000 Gallons of Fuel
and Hit One Million Mile Marker AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 27
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Showing leadership in fuel cell
technology, DaimlerChrysler announced that the company has hit the
one million mile mark on fuel cell vehicles. The combined mileage
of more than 100 fuel cell vehicles operating worldwide include
Mercedes-Benz F-Cell passenger cars, Dodge Sprinter medium-duty
fuel cell powered vans and Citaro fuel cell powered transportation
buses. More than 30 DaimlerChrysler hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
will be placed in the United States by the end of 2005. No other
manufacturer even comes close. The average petroleum powered
vehicle in the US has a fuel economy of about 20 miles per gallon.
Using that as a base, the operation of these hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles worldwide reduced conventional gasoline and diesel
consumption by more than 50,000 gallons with zero emissions. The
aggressive $1 billion investment in fuel cell vehicle research that
DaimlerChrysler has committed will continue to keep the company on
the cutting edge of fuel cell technology. "Hydrogen has the
potential to become an important energy source in the future", said
Mark Chernoby, Vice President Advance Vehicle Engineering, Chrysler
Group. "This marks another milestone in DaimlerChrysler's journey
to the long term goals of zero emission transportation and to
reducing our nation's dependency on foreign oil." Through programs
such as the Department of Energy (DOE) Controlled Hydrogen Fleet
and Infrastructure Demonstration and Validation Project,
DaimlerChrysler will place more fuel cell vehicles in the hands of
customers, who will provide valuable feedback about performance
under different conditions. DaimlerChrysler is testing over 100
fuel cell vehicles under varying weather, traffic conditions and
driving styles in different locations worldwide. This experience
will benefit the development of the fuel cell automobile and how it
will be refueled. BP is the energy partner of DaimlerChrysler in
the project. BP recently opened a hydrogen refueling station in
Southfield, Michigan, with DTE Energy Company. Another station was
opened in a cooperative effort between BP and Next Energy in
Detroit Michigan. Fuel cells release energy from the reaction of
hydrogen and oxygen with a catalyst. This clean technology operates
to a high level of efficiency and is true zero emission.
Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles emit only pure water vapor as
exhaust. DaimlerChrysler has been involved in this technology for
more than 10 years and works in partnership with Ballard Power
Systems to further develop the technology. Fuel cell vehicles are
part of DaimlerChrysler's advanced propulsion technology umbrella,
which also includes exceptionally efficient gasoline engines,
advanced diesels, alternative fuels and hybrid powertrain systems.
DATASOURCE: Chrysler Group CONTACT: Nicholas Cappa, cell:
+1-248-202-8039, , or Cole Quinnell, cell: +1-248-877-3345, , both
of Chrysler Group Web site: http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com/
http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/
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