Stellantis – first promising feedback on the use of Citroën ë-Jumpy Hydrogen by Suez.
Richard Meyer, Strategy and International Development – Commercial Vehicles Business Unit, said:
Citroën ë-Jumpy Hydrogen represents a new advance in the Brand’s electrification strategy.
“It complements our offer of zero-emission light commercial vehicles, the widest on the market. This new solution combines the two technologies Lithium-ion Battery and Hydrogen Fuel Cell in order to meet the intensive uses of professionals thanks to a hydrogen recharge time of only 3 minutes and a range of 400 km.
“A technology that will play an essential role in the deployment of zero-emission mobility solutions for professionals.”
CONCLUSIVE RESULTS
SUEZ Carcassonne operated ë-Jumpy Hydrogen during the month of January. Its return on this first fuel cell utility vehicle is very positive and highlights the adequacy between the services offered and the uses required by the activities of its agents.
TECHNOLOGY ADAPTED TO THIS TYPE OF USE
At the Carcassonne site, it is the construction managers who will exclusively use ë-Jumpy Hydrogen in their daily activities. Their missions are multiple and result in site visits, replenishment of large and small equipment or emergency repair interventions in the event of a water leak.
Hence the urgent need to have a vehicle available 24/7 with sufficient autonomy without having to refuel the vehicle during the day. They thus operate every day rather short (a hundred kilometers) but frequent trips on the city and its outskirts, with a vehicle that must be available quickly.
The vehicle is usually loaded to more than half its volume, with the load often exceeding 200 kg.
Hydrogen technology presents itself as a complementary offer to the traditional electricity offer to meet other types of use. It allows this great versatility of use required thanks to the range of 400 km offered and an optimal operating time with the fast filling that allows to have a vehicle operational at all times.
To refuel at their 350-bar resort, it only takes 3 minutes for half of a full tank (3 minutes also for a full tank on a station of 700 bars). The 10.5 kWh battery, which acts as a reserve of 50 km when the hydrogen tanks are empty, is recharged very simply on a standard 220V outlet, at night, 3 to 5 times a week.
A HIGH SERENITE OF USE
The vehicle brings great physical comfort and wit thanks to the electric-hydrogen hybridization. The user can carry out all his missions with a free mind, with peace of mind regarding his field of action and his ability to load equipment.
Offering a unique driving pleasure specific to the electric motor, ë-Jumpy Hydrogen proved to be a very appreciable discovery for the person who took his seat on board and who had never driven an electric vehicle: “We adapt very quickly to the smooth and quiet driving of ë-Jumpy Hydrogen (no engine noise or external noise pollution), which is very easy and pleasant in all situations.”
The overall range of 400 km offers great versatility. The user can multiply short trips without worrying about charging and meet the expectations of the 44% of customers in the compact van segment who say they occasionally travel more than 300 km.
The hydrogen vector provides a new solution in the field of professional mobility, complementary to the development of purely electrical proposals. Hydrogen technology is less sensitive to the transport of heavy loads, driving speed and climatic conditions such as negative temperatures reducing range.
Moreover, its exothermic system generates heat that improves thermal comfort. An autonomy less sensitive to variations that allows you to better program your missions.
The permanent availability of ë-Jumpy Hydrogen is made possible thanks to an ultra-fast refueling because the riders do not necessarily have the possibility to include in their daily tour one or more breaks the time of a recharge, or because they may need a vehicle available 24/7, a full tank of hydrogen takes only 3 minutes.
“Regarding the traction chain, ë-Jumpy Hydrogen offers a good autonomy and the recharging of the battery and hydrogen tanks has no constraints.”
Loading capacities are preserved. The useful volume of ë-Jumpy Hydrogen is the same as the thermal version: 5.3 m3 on the M silhouette and 6.1 m3 in XL. Its payload and towable load can reach 1 ton on both versions.
The useful width between the 1.25 m wheel arch makes it possible to load European pallets. “Ë-Jumpy Hydrogen has as much useful space as its thermal version, an essential parameter for us who systematically operate more than half the volume of the vehicle. In addition, it also allows us to facilitate the storage and handling of the transported material. »
THE RELEVANCE OF CITROËN’S CHOICE OF A “MID-POWER” TECHNOLOGY
This hydrogen technology combines a lithium-ion battery on the one hand and a fuel cell connected to hydrogen tanks on the other.
When hydrogen and air are put in contact with a catalyst, the fuel cell generates electricity to power an electric motor, the only residue released being water vapor. Compared to a battery, a fuel cell is therefore considered more as an energy converter than as a storage device.
Citroën has chosen this hybrid solution following work carried out in partnership with Symbio, a joint venture specializing in fuel cells, owned equally by equipment manufacturers Faurecia and Michelin.
Ë- Jumpy Hydrogen benefits from the two technologies that are the 10.5 kWh lithium-ion battery and the 45 kW fuel cell, powered by 3 hydrogen tanks of 700 bar, developed by Faurecia and able to store 4.4 kg of useful hydrogen.
Hydrogen provides the energy needed for greater range, while the medium-capacity battery combines power and performance with energy recovery and charging capacity. This solution has different advantages.
First of all, that of compactness with the battery under the seats and tanks under the floor, without impact on the cargo volume. This system also makes it possible to make no compromise on performance, with a fuel cell powerful enough to guarantee a constant speed on the highway.
Then, the battery provides the energy needs for acceleration and other functions such as power calls during starts and the first kilometers. In addition, hybridization increases the durability of the propulsion system and limits the risk of “dry failure”, as the battery acts as a reserve of electricity when the hydrogen tanks are empty.
A TECHNOLOGY OF THE FUTURE
The versatility of different hydrogen systems allows for a multitude of applications. Thus, this technology of the future will play an essential role in the energy transition, particularly in the field of mobility, by responding to a certain type of use.
A CARBON MOBILITY SOLUTION FOR SPECIFIC PROFESSIONAL USES
Many companies, like the SUEZ Group, which are part of a strong approach to reducing their environmental footprint, will have a strategic interest in using a hydrogen ecosystem to green their fleet.
Many other professionals: municipal services and local authorities, the transport and logistics sector, express or special mail, intervention vehicles, operators of motorway companies for example who have to make short or longer journeys depending on the places to which they have to go urgently, etc.
SUEZ AT THE RENDEZVOUS OF GREEN HYDROGEN
As part of the energy transition, the challenge is to develop the production of renewable green hydrogen via the electrolysis of water from electricity from wind or solar or from biogas generated by the decomposition of household waste.
For example, SUEZ, in association with SIPERREC, is developing a project whose objective is to create the first plant for the production and distribution of green hydrogen (electricity produced from the combustion of household waste transformed into hydrogen by a water electrolysis process) on an Energy Recovery Unit in France, in Créteil, which should be operational by the end of 2022.
This station should eventually distribute up to 1 ton per day of hydrogen, thus avoiding the emission of at least 1300 tons of CO2 every year.
Highlights:
- After a month of intensive use of Citroën Hydrogen, SUEZ highlighted its qualities in terms of optimizing the vehicle’s operating time, versatility of use and refueling speed, while using a clean energy source.
- Thanks to the integration of this efficient fuel cell technology, ë-Jumpy Hydrogen keeps its volume and payload at the highest level.
- This first encouraging return from SUEZ demonstrates Citroën’s ability to innovate and take into account the challenges of the energy transition and the decarbonization of transport by proposing offers adapted to uses, from My Ami Cargo to ë-Jumper.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
FIRST PROMISING FEEDBACK ON THE USE OF CITROËN Ë-JUMPY HYDROGEN BY SUEZ, February 16, 2022
