FedEx tests clean hydrogen-fueled tugs at Memphis hub

Apr 10 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - Wayne Risher The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.

 

It was billed as the world's first zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered cargo tug, but it looked more like a heavy duty golf cart cruising around the FedEx hub in Memphis.

Designed to tow a 20-ton train of cargo containers, rather than golf bags and a six-pack, the ground support equipment hummed along quietly and left an odorless trail of warm water vapor wafting from an exhaust fan.

Reuben Sarkar, a U.S. Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary for sustainable transportation, took a turn behind the steering wheel of one of the American-made tugs built by Plug Power Inc. and Italian-owned Charlatte America. Plug Power, based in Latham, New York, manufactures hydrogen fuel cells, which convert hydrogen to electricity, and Charlatte makes electric battery powered airport ramp vehicles.

The test drive, under the supervision of FedEx executive Bill Schoonover, followed Thursday's unveiling of 15 tugs developed under a $2.5 million DOE grant announced in November 2012.

Sarkar was surprised at the vehicle's wide turning radius, but admitted he had no frame of reference, having never driven a cargo tug before.

Officials from the DOE, FedEx and Plug Power Inc., along with U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, hailed the environmentally friendly vehicle as a milestone on the road to better air quality at cargo handling facilities and reduced reliance on less efficient diesel- and gas-powered tugs.

As tug operators put the vehicles through their paces over the next couple years, participants in the partnership will be looking at economics and performance and hoping to advance hydrogen fuel cell technology for other applications including personal vehicles, Sarkar said.

The venture, which Plug Power chief executive Andy Marsh described as a research and development project, now enters real world testing where the rubber meets the ramp.

The new tugs represent about one percent of 1,500 tugs that move rolling cargo containers between sorting facilities and about 250 cargo flights that arrive and depart daily from the FedEx Express world hub. About 10 percent are battery-powered electric rigs.

Electric rigs are ideal for operation in enclosed spaces like sorting facilities, where air quality and noise are concerns, said Russell Musgrove, FedEx Express managing director for global vehicles.

But batteries take 6 to 8 hours to recharge, which removes electric tugs from service for part of the daily business cycle.

Hydrogen-powered tugs can be refueled in 3 to 5 minutes, so they won't have the downtime of electric tugs.

Musgrove said FedEx will test the tugs for about a year before deciding whether to expand the fleet. The company has about 5,000 tugs in its fleet worldwide.

The DOE grant is the second of three involving FedEx and Plug Power.

A $1.3 million grant in 2010 helped develop hydrogen-powered fork lifts for a FedEx Freight facility in Springfield, Missouri. Plug Power's Marsh said the grant, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, helped save his company, founded in 1998, by allowing it to work with FedEx and other partners on a new application for fuel cells.

Last year DOE announced a $3 million grant to Plug Power to develop hydrogen fuel technology to extend the range of FedEx Express's electric-powered pickup and delivery trucks. The goal is to double their range of about 80 miles on a single battery charge.

The 2012 grant paid for the tugs and a hydrogen refueling station, which FedEx officials say is the only one at any airport globally. Praxair makes the fuel from natural gas.

Mitch Jackson, FedEx vice president of environmental affairs and sustainability, said because the companies collaborate and share findings with the DOE, the project ultimately benefits other companies. The company's contribution was time and talents of its transportation and freight-handling experts.

"We're doing our part to improve surface transportation for the nation," Jackson said.

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