Comparison to conventional technology

NEW TECHNOLOGY IN DIRECT COMPARISON TO CONVENTIONAL TRACTORS

Fuelled with hydrogen: STILL and its partners presenting an RX 60 fork lift truck with fuel cell drive of the second generation.

The project at the airport in Hamburg is to intensively test the interplay of the fuel cell system and the tractors. The tests focus on driving characteristics, performance during a shift, reliability, user friendliness, energy consumption and range. The values and results from the tests will then be compared to the respective data of conventional tractors for evaluation.

Fuel cell technologies are very well suited for use in industrial trucks. STILL has already proven this with an R 60 electric truck adapted for fuel cell operation. For this adaptation the mechanic and electric interface of the truck were modified to match the new drive technology. In 2003 the innovative vehicle was initially presented to the public on the 3rd international fair for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Hamburg and was received with great interest. After this, the truck operated several years successfully at the airport in Munich. During this project STILL was already able to gather a large deal of relevant technical experience. Meanwhile an RX 60 has been fitted with a fuel cell system of the latest generation. The truck has a load capacity of 4.99 tonnes at a load centre of 500 mm and was also presented as an innovation when it was handed over to the Hamburg airport. This truck is to yield more experience from different aspects of the application.

STILL is one of the leading suppliers of electric fork lift trucks. Besides this the company looks back over a long time experience with diesel-electric drive systems with hybrid technology compartments. These concepts have been continuously developed over the past years with respect to the current economic and ecologic developments. Against this background, entering the field of fuel cell technology was a logical step for the Hamburg based company, because the drive technologies are related. Compared to combustion, generating electric energy from a chemical process bears considerable advantages: amongst others the high efficiency and the operation without pollutants, especially CO2 and the conservation of fossil energy reserves.