Alternative fuelled vehicles

The Department for Transport has launched a £2mn Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) Fleet Support Scheme which will allow public and private sector fleet operators to bid for funding to add hydrogen-powered vehicles to their fleets.

 Announced by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), the competition aims to facilitate the take-up of up to 100 more hydrogen fuel cell cars and vans by 2017, equivalent to tripling the number of vehicles currently in use. Be quick, though, the deadline for bids for funding is 4 July.

The money will cover up to 75% of the costs of new vehicles bought by local authorities, health trusts, police forces, fire brigades and private companies by April 2017, as well as the cost of running them for up to three years. Support will also be available for the leasing or renting of vehicles, insurance, hydrogen fuel and servicing.

The competition is open to public sector fleets and to individual private enterprise fleets, up to a ceiling of €200,000 support. Bids should present a clear plan for deploying hydrogen-fuelled vehicles and managing their use to ensure that utilisation is high.

• Meanwhile, a project to convert 63 diesel-powered black cabs in Birmingham to run on petrol engines using LPG has begun with the fitting of new engines to five vehicles. The project is a partnership between engine manufacturer KMS, Birmingham City Council and LPG supplier Autogas. As a result of the engine conversion, Birmingham City Council says that the vehicles will be compliant with the ‘Euro 6’ standard at which vehicles will be exempt from charges under the city’s Clean Air Zone.