Ford Reports Its Fleet of Fuel Cell Test Vehicles Has Exceeded Expectations

[AZEqualizer]

Ford Motor Co. announced on Aug 19, 2008, that its 30 fuel-cell test vehicles have exceeded the expectations of the company's hydrogen research engineers by accumulating more than 865,000 real world miles without significant maintenance issues since the fleet's launch three years ago. Encouraged by the program's success, Ford said it recently reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to extend its three-year-old hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle program for up to 24 months, until the next-generation system is ready for deployment in the 2010 timeframe.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/FocusFuelCell750-thumb-400x266.jpg

This according to Edmunds Green Car Advisor (http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/08/ford-reports-its-fleet-of-fuel-cell-test-vehicles-has-exceeded-expectations.html)

[Derwin]

Wow! Great news from Ford. Hopefully we will be seeing a larger selection of vehicles as a result.

Derwin

[RAN]

IMO, a fleet of BEVs would also have made it through without "significant maintenance issues", or the need for significant infrastructure to support it.

Also, while 865,000 miles sounds like a lot, split up between 30 vehicles it only averages 28,834 for each one for a 3 year test, which is under 10,000 miles a year for each vehicle. Doesn't sound quite as impressive looking at it that way.