"It's amazing because most people don't realize B.C. is one of the world leaders in the hydrogen fuel-cell industry," said Hydrogen Highway manager Alison Grigg.
The B.C. Hydrogen Highway program is an umbrella organization co-ordinating broad-based activities that support the commercialization of hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies.
"It's a metaphor and a real highway. It's our route to the future for B.C.," said Grigg, noting the project resembles California's Hydrogen Highway project.
The forward-thinking Hydrogen Highway initiative, jumpstarted by $1.1 million in federal funds in 2004, relies on co-operative projects and partnerships involving government, industry and academic institutions.
The Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Program - and Victoria's fuel-cell car - is just a ttiny piece of the puzzle in place supporting the Hydrogen Highway vision, and the hefty vision to install a hydrogen fuelling infrastructure between Victoria and Whistler before the 2010 Olympics games is already well underway.
Numerous hydrogen-related projects, including several fuelling stations, are listed on the Hydrogen Highway's website, http://www.hydrogenhighway.ca.
The Mainland has seen the most Hydrogen Highway activity, however, the website says an anchor fuelling station in BC Transit's Langford facility, dubbed the Victoria Station, will dispense fuel to support the Victoria-based Ford fuel-cell vehicle.
Behind closed doors, the Victoria Station is already up and running, confirmed Joe Wong, manager of infrastructure at Powertech Labs, the Surrey-based company that operates and maintains the station.
A subsidiary of BC Hydro, Powertech opened its Compressed Hydrogen Infrastructure Program station in Surrey in 2002 and began providing hydrogen fuel for the VFCVP in 2005.
"It's a little bit smaller than the capacity of our site, but we operate more vehicles," he said of the Victoria Station that was built this year.
"It's not a cookie cutter type of technology," he explained. "There's a lot of engineering involved and design involved in the initial application."
As for filling up, Wong said it's just like a gas station.
"You pull up the nozzle to the reciprocal, pull a knob and the gas flows straight through."
The Victoria car is filled two or three times a week at the station and gets 200 to 300 kilometers per tank - enough for a return trip to Nanaimo.
Internet controls allow Powertech to monitor the station remotely. When the hydrogen is running low, they send over a hydrogen shipment - provided by the BOC Group - to fill up the fuelling station.
The Victoria Station is currently "under lock and key," said a BC Transit spokesperson; however, an official unveiling is slated for the fall.
Prototype paves way for fuel-cell buses
Rocket science didn't build this zero-emission wonder.
Yet the start-up sound that escapes Victoria's first fuel-cell car could've come straight from outer space.
"It sounds like the space ship they have on the Jetsons," said BC Transit fleet engineer Ben Herlinger, one of about a dozen local BC Transit staff trained to drive the state-of-the-art prototype.
The high-pitch whir subsides as an unusual dashboard gauge moves from the "start-up" to the "run" position.
An uncanny silence is all that remains for the drive ahead.
The sound of silence no longer registers with many of the vehicle's Ford-trained BC Transit drivers, as they have been cruising the Capital Region in the demonstration car - one of 30 identical models running worldwide - for more than a year.
In doing so, each became part of an exclusive sampling of people internationally to drive the latest innovation in environmentally friendly transportation - hydrogen-powered vehicles.
"It's very much like a regular car," said Herlinger. "It's got quite a good pick up. As good or better as a regular (Ford) Focus."
With the vehicle's noteworthy features hiding beneath the modest frame of a four-door sedan, it was no surprise when Herlinger began a briefing on BC Transit's prize possession by popping the trunk.
Limited trunk space was explained when Herlinger tugged on a carpeted panel at the rear, displaying a large, heavy-duty cylinder lying on its side.
That's the fuel tank that stores hydrogen, he said, noting that a full tank holds about four kilograms of the compressed gas.
The much smaller tank to the left, he added, holds compressed air - the second ingredient in the recipe for electricity.
"The fuel cell made by Ballard is under the front seat," he pointed out, noting that the hybrid fuel-cell system also incorporates a high-voltage battery.
For the most part, the extraordinary car is indistinguishable from any other Ford Focus, aside from the fuel cell advertising plastered on its exterior that begs onlookers' attention.
With air conditioning, power steering and power windows, the car is a comfortable cruising choice for BC Transit employees.
Each morning, they retrieve it from BC Transit's Langford facility and park it at head office to be used for car pooling throughout the day.
On the highway, the car keeps up with traffic, and can even reach speeds up to 130 km/hr (though Herlinger contends he's never pushed it past 90).
And with the negligible environmental impacts of the drive, it's no wonder BC Transit bigwigs have pursued the car with an environmental conscience.
"When we're running our fuel cell car, there's nothing coming out of the tail pipe but water vapour," explained Ron Harmer, BC Transit vice-president of technical services.
BC Transit has joined forces with the province and the Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Program, supported by Natural Resources Canada, to do what VFCVP manager Bruce Rothwell calls a "technical evaluation of the product."
BC Transit is slated to run the car until March 2008, and in this test phase, the more kilometres they put on the better.
And so far, so good.
"It's been pretty trouble free so far," said Herlinger. "It's a pretty neat piece of equipment."
Testing for the future
With almost every auto company in the world pooling resources into fuel-cell technology, BC Transit was quick to jump at the opportunity to test drive the future of carbon-free transportation.
Four fuel-cell cars were already being tested in Vancouver when a fifth became available.
"We said we're interested in the fifth car," said Ron Harmer, BC Transit vice-president of technical services.
While BC Transit uses the vehicle for car pooling, the
Vancouver cars - operated by Ballard Power Systems, BC Hydro, the University
of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver - have varying functions.
The City of Vancouver's car is perhaps a less popular spectacle than the others, as it's used for bylaw enforcement and parking tickets.
But whatever their purpose, VFCVP manager Bruce Rothwell knows visibility and mileage for the five cars he co-ordinates helps the province progress towards a hydrogen-powered future.
BC Transit is hoping to forge a path in hydrogen-fuelled transportation sooner rather than later.
The provincewide transit authority is currently waiting to hear from the federal government on funding towards 20 fuel-cell buses proposed to hit the roads between Victoria and Whistler in time for the 2010 Olympics.
"We hope to go to tender for the buses this fall," said Harmer, adding that transit is a logical place to first implement hydrogen technology.
The fuel-cell car, however, is geared toward designing a consumer product, and continued testing is necessary as modifications will likely be made, said Herlinger.
Cold-weather driving, for example, posed some challenges for the BC Transit car operators, as they were originally told not to drive the car in temperatures below minus 5, but that temperature stipulation was lowered in the winter.
Herlinger predicted future models may minimize the spaceship-like whir sound.
"I could see these taking off in about 15 years," he said.