Fuel cell trucks complete trials at Wal-Mart

A consortium of companies has successfully completed trials of its new fuel cell-powered pallet trucks at two Wal-Mart distribution centers in Ohio.

The companies - which included Cellex Power Products and Ballard Power Systems, both of Canada - say their zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell-powered pallet trucks met and exceeded uptime, fueling, environmental and safety targets.

"This beta trial success is a significant milestone for Cellex from Wal-Mart's perspective," said Johnnie Dobbs, Wal-Mart's executive vice president of Logistics and Supply Chain. "We really put these Cellex-powered vehicles to the test in our pallet truck applications and they did the job. Our pallet truck operators were most pleased with their performance and the ease of use. We now understand that operationally this new technology can be utilized in this application."

Wal-Mart used Cellex's CX-P150 fuel cell product for four months. Twelve rider pallet trucks worked in continuous operation, logging more than 18,500 hours of active work with over 2,100 indoor fueling occurrences by pallet truck operators.

According to the companies, the trials proved:

• Increased productivity - fuel cells gave the trucks longer run times and shorter fueling times compared to lead acid batteries.
• Reduced fueling time - Pallet truck operators fueled their trucks with hydrogen in less than two minutes.
• Validation of indoor fueling - The indoor fuel dispensing area of 200 square feet (compared to 4,000 square feet for a lead acid battery room) allowed operators to fuel their trucks quickly and safely.
• Increased operator satisfaction - Operators preferred Cellex's CX-P150 power unit over lead acid batteries due to its consistent power, ease of fueling and flexibility.
• Quick training - Operators were fully trained within half an hour. More than 100 operators and service technicians received training during the beta program.

Other companies associated with the trials included BOC, a member of The Linde Group, for hydrogen fuel, OKI Systems for service and support, and Crown Equipment Corporation and Nissan Barrett for the pallet trucks.

The companies said the truck operators successfully carried out over 2,100 fueling procedures - proving hydrogen can be transferred safely indoors.

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