JCB shows hydrogen Sprinter
29 August 2023
JCB has installed one of its hydrogen engines into a Mercedes Sprinter van as a further demonstration of the technology’s potential applications.
The retrofit was completed in two weeks and one of the vehicle’s first test drivers was JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford, who is leading the company’s £100 million hydrogen engine project.
The internal combustion engine used in the van is the same as those already powering prototype JCB construction and agricultural machines like the 525-60E Loadall telehandler and the 19C-1E mini excavator.
It is the second Mercedes vehicle to be retrofitted with a JCB hydrogen engine. Earlier this year a 7.5 tonne Mercedes truck was given the same treatment, as reported previously on the blog.
Lord Bamford said: “We have retrofitted this vehicle with a JCB hydrogen engine to demonstrate how simple it will be to convert existing vans and to show that it is not only construction and agricultural machines that can be powered by hydrogen.
“While converting vans will not be for JCB to do, it does prove there is something else other than batteries that can work very effectively.”
JCB says that hydrogen powered vehicles can also be refuelled much faster, with the task completed in a matter of minutes compared to several hours for recharging batteries.
