BMW puts 70 more hydrogen route trains into operation in Leipzig

Project description

Leipzig. The BMW Group plant in Leipzig puts 70 more hydrogen-powered tugger trains (indoor tugs) into operation. These are used immediately in production to supply the assembly lines with vendor parts. The official handover took place today with all partners of a consortium consisting of the BMW Group, Fronius (manufacturer of fuel cell systems), Linde Material Handling (goods handling specialist and manufacturer of industrial trucks with fuel cell drive), Günsel Fördertechnik (Linde MH network partner, responsible for sales and service) and the Technical University of Munich (accompanying scientific research). The consortium is supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI, today BMDV) and its program company, NOW GmbH. Back in 2013, BMW tested eleven hydrogen-powered tractors and forklifts in Leipzig in an initial research project, identifying important fields of action for the current follow-up project.

The consortium’s objective is to establish a future-proof, sustainable and at the same time economically efficient drive technology in the field of indoor logistics and to place it on a broad basis. To this end, the consortium and its partners are mapping the entire value chain for hydrogen fuel cell systems for indoor logistics. The concrete focus is on development, testing, everyday use, economic operation and the establishment of a hydrogen infrastructure. To this end, the collaborative partners are working on the identified challenges in various work packages. These include an operator concept, standardization of interfaces, a plug & play solution for fleet conversion, validation of service life, and proof of economic viability in fleet operation. Other areas of focus include service and the training concept for operating hydrogen fuel cell technology.

As a result, an industry standard “H2Ready” is to be established, which will open up the possibility on a broad basis for other manufacturers to use the innovative technology in new or retrofitted vehicles in their own production. The Federal Ministry’s funding is aimed at advancing the technical development of climate-friendly hydrogen and fuel cell technology and making it competitive.