Asia Pacific Fuel Cell Technologies, Ltd. (APFCT) of Chunan, Taiwan announced today the award by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economics of a 40-vehicle fleet demonstration program for a hybrid fuel cell powered scooter motorcycle. This program marks an important milestone in the push towards fuel cell commercialization. The proposal effort was lead by APFCT with a cross industry team consisting of Chinese Petroleum Corporation, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Taigene Electric Machinery Corporation and Automotive Research and Testing Center. Total proposed program budget is over US$4.6 million

The stated goals of the fleet demonstration program are to validate hybrid fuel cell/Li ion battery power technology and its application to a scooter motorcycle, demonstrate hydrogen supply, storage and distribution technology and validate the metal hydride based hydrogen infrastructure for fuel cell scooters.

Dr. Jefferson Yang, Chairman of APFCT stated: “We are gratified that APFCT and our team member’s years of focused efforts to develop the fuel cell scooter and fueling infrastructure have been confirmed by the Taiwan government. Fleet demonstration is a necessary step in taking the fuel cell from laboratory to the consumer market. In addition, government participation is a crucial factor towards successful fuel cell commercialization. Taiwan is a world leader in gasoline ICE scooter manufacture and we hope this demonstration program will significantly contribute towards maintaining Taiwan’s global technology leadership in scooters and fuel cells in general.”