Asia Pacific Fuel Cell scooter completed 1000km around Taiwan test drive
Date：2010-05-20
Set the first record of long distance on-road test for fuel cell scooters worldwide
 
Following one-day record of 300 km on-road test drive last November, APFCT took a step further to test its fuel cell scooter in different weather and road conditions in a four-day trip around Taiwan from 10th to 13th of May. The total mileage completed was more than 1000 km. Once again, it demonstrated to the world the competency of fuel cell vehicle R&D in Taiwan. This event again marks the first record of long-distance on-road test drive of fuel cell scooter, both in Taiwan and worldwide.
 
The scooter left the APFCT’s plant in Zhu-Nan Science Park at 7:00 am and rode south to Kao-Hsiung. Next day, it rode through the magnificent scenery of South-Loop Highway to enter Tai-Tung and Hua-Lien. On the third day, after a thrilling drive on the narrow road between steep cliffs and the Pacific Ocean with many heavy trucks on the Su-Hua Provincial Highway, it entered the Promised Land of Taiwan, Yi-Lan, at the north-east side of Taiwan. On the last day, 13th of May, it arrived Taipei from Yi-Lan after overcoming the strenuous “9 Twists and 18 Turns” of Provincial Highway 9 to the heavy traffic of Taipei city centre. It took the opportunity to circle around the President Office Building, before continuing heading south to Hsin-Chu, the town of high-tech industry in Taiwan. Finally, it successfully completed the whole trip to arrived at APFCT’s office at about 5 pm. During the trip, it encountered many different severe weather conditions, including strong sun with high heat for long hours and showered by heavy rain fall. However, the operation of fuel cell system remained smooth and the performance of the scooter remained stable through the whole trip. This fully demonstrated the maturity, durability and stability of APFCT’s fuel cell system and integration technology.
 
In hydrogen refueling, it continued using APFCT’s unique low- pressure metal hydride hydrogen canisters in combination with hydrogen exchange model. The hydrogen refueling and exchange model is similar to the exchange model of gas cylinders prevalently used by many Taiwan households. All hydrogen canisters will be manufactured and refueled with hydrogen in a central facility before being delivered to “exchange points” which can be existing gas stations or convenient stores or other retail network by logistic companies. When hydrogen in canisters is depleted, the consumers just need to go to these exchange points to buy and exchange for canisters fully charged with hydrogen to plug in to fuel cell scooters. The whole process of changing canisters takes less than 1 minute. Once new canisters are plugged in, users can immediately ride their fuel cell scooters away, just like the usage of conventional scooters. Because at the present, the hydrogen canister exchange network has yet to be established in Taiwan, so for at this event, we used a tender van to support the hydrogen canister exchange on the trip and changed canisters at the road side whenever needed.
 
 
This test drive was conducted by a new fuel cell scooter which was built using the method of mass production, and with less than 5km mileage before the event. Apart from fuel cell system and electricity control system that are designed and produced by APFCT, all other components, including frame, motor, transmission etc, are provided by Taiwanese suppliers. From this, we can see the integrity and strength of motorcycle supply chain in Taiwan. Through this event, we hope to show the world the advance of fuel cell technology in Taiwan and to demonstrate the high feasibility of commercialization and the competitiveness of APFCT’s fuel cell technology in the applications of light electric vehicles.

* Video clips:
1. Driving on South-Loop Highway:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHVWGLyteoc
2. Driving in theavy rain fall on thw way from Tai-Tung to Hua-Lien : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3WnQbviW2Y
3. Driving on the strenuous “9 Twists and 18 Turns” of Provincial Highway 9 From Yi-Lan to Taipei : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvXkYByDYMY
4. In Taipei: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzkGyziEC5Q
5. Driving pass the President Office Building in Taipei city centre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7aTn6gne98

   
        the mileage before the trip                       the mileage at the middle of the trip                 the mileage record after the trip
   
           driving under strong sun                                 on the way to Tai-Chung                                        in Kao-Hsiung
   
      from South-Loop Highway to Tai-Tung                 driving in heavy rain fall                  change hydrogen canister in the rain
   
                    driving through the Su-Hua Provincial Highway                                            changing Hydrogen canister on the road side
   
                   in Taipei                                  passing the President Office Building in Taipei           returned to APFCT on 13, May
   
        a memorable moment                      the production area of APFCT fuel cell scooter    the road map of around Taiwan 
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