Road test approval for JCB hydrogen digger
10 February 2023
The UK government has given special dispensation, under a vehicle special order, that allows JCB to test and use its hydrogen-powered backhoe loader on the public highway.
Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Jesse Norman, pictured during a visit to the manufacturer’s headquarters in Rocester, said: “From cars to construction sites, industry has a vital role in decarbonising our economy and creating green jobs and prosperity.“
JCB’s prototype hydrogen-powered backhoe loader is an important first step in the construction industry’s efforts to decarbonise in what is a ‘hard to decarbonise’ sector. Hydrogen combustion machines can play a vital role in reducing carbon emissions in settings where other types of clean power may not be the most practical or efficient.”
JCB Chairman Lord Bamford commented: “Securing this vehicle special order from the Department for Transport is an important first step in getting JCB machines that are powered by hydrogen combustion engines to and from British building sites using the public highway. It’s an endorsement that JCB is on the right path in pursuit of its net zero ambitions.
“JCB’s hydrogen-powered backhoe loader is a world first in our industry, a digger with a purpose-engineered internal combustion engine that uses hydrogen gas as the energy source. It’s a real breakthrough – a zero CO2 fuel providing the power to drive the pistons in an internal combustion engine, a technology that’s been around for over 100 years, a technology that we are all familiar with,” he added.
