Contractor BAM Construction has hailed the simplicity of the refuelling process of JCB’s hydrogen-powered Loadall telehandler, after testing the machine on a Midlands regeneration project.
The company has been trialling the JCB 540-180H Loadall on the Tea Factory regeneration project - which will be the new home of BBC Birmingham. Powered by a hydrogen combustion engine developed by JCB, the machine has a zero-carbon emission driveline and offers the same power and torque as the diesel-powered model.
Colin Evison, BAM’s innovation technical lead, said: “We’re starting to explore the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel. It was important to get the hydrogen fuel machine on a real construction site. We’ve seen it in test environments, and we know that technically it does work, but putting it to the test on a real site makes a real difference.
“We’ve noticed no difference in the way the machine operates. We have to refuel the machine in a different way, but it’s a simple and straightforward process.”
While JCB Group Director – Special Projects, Tim Burnhope, added: “We’ve been working for over three years to develop this fantastic hydrogen combustion engine and we’ve spent that time testing the machines on JCB sites, accumulating over 50,000 hours of testing.
“Now we’ve put JCB hydrogen combustion machines on to customer sites. We are proving with our customers that this really can work, that hydrogen can be the future for construction and agricultural equipment, the mobile fuel of the future, and one that is carbon-free, producing nothing but clean steam.”
https://www.jcb.com/en-gb
