U.S. Postal Service Testing Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles for GM

Postal Service Looking for Viable Alternatives to Petroleum Based Fuels
By Charlie Griffin
The world's largest Hydrogen Fuel Cell Test Fleet motors on, this time with a new participant that is guaranteed to put a lot of miles on these new cutting edge vehicles. GM is continually expanding Project Driveway, a real world driving experiment for their hydrogen fuel cell cars - the hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell electric vehicles. GM calls the experiment "the world's first and largest market test of fuel cell vehicles." They have recently had the car in the hands of volunteer drivers in the Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC areas. Now, GM is partnering with the owner of the world's largest civilian fleet, the U.S. Postal Service.

USPS plans to use the vehicle on mail routes in Irvine, California, six days a week. In a recent news release, the Vice President for Engineering for the USPS, Walter O'Tormey said, "We are looking for a vehicle that operates from a fuel source that reduces-or eliminates-our dependence on petroleum products, that is good for the environment, good for our customers and good for the Postal Service."
The USPS has been stung heavily by recent high fuel prices. With 220,000 vehicles in their fleet, which they say is the world's largest civilian fleet, a one-cent increase in a gallon of fuel adds $8 million annually to Postal Service expenses. Since this is an independent federal agency, one that has to pay it's own way, it is constantly seeking ways to minimize operating costs. Being at the mercy of petroleum based fuels that are subject to high fluctuations can cause some serious problems with funding. This agency doesn't have the luxury of operating on tax dollars, it has to earn it's budget yearly from the sale of postage, products and services.
The agency sees Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as a possible way to reduce their dependence on traditional fuels, such as gasoline and diesel, and hopefully minimize their exposure to high fluctuations in the cost of fuel. "We are very encouraged by GM's fuel cell technology," O'Tormey stated. "We also want to explore other options, such as hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid and other 'green' vehicles that will help us continue to provide our customers with reliable service while protecting the environment."
GM has partnered before with USPS in testing their hydrogen cars. Earlier hydrogen fuel cell cars were tested by the Postal Service in 2004 and 2006. The results from those tests have led to the current generation of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. "The Postal Service has been an invaluable partner, and they put our fuel cell vehicles through some tough, daily workouts," said Mary Beth Stanek, Director of Energy and Environmental Policy & Commercialization at General Motors. "We are gaining valuable insight on how these vehicles perform in demanding, real-world situations. By participating in Project Driveway, the Postal Service also is demonstrating the need to develop a hydrogen infrastructure to support fueling these vehicles."
GM will provide the vehicles, service, maintenance and the fuel as part of this test. The USPS just has to provide the drivers and real-world testing, something they are obviously good at doing. The letter carriers will fuel the vehicle themselves at the University of California at Irvine hydrogen fueling station operated by the National Fuel Cell Research Center. This is also where other Project Driveway volunteer Fuel-Cell drivers have been fueling their vehicles.
Early after-effects of Project Driveway are searching acceptable according to one contempo disciplinarian who kept a account of his active activities. Daniel Krach suggests in his Popular Mechanics website entries that Hydrogen Ammunition Cell cars are as abundant as alert as able as centralized agitation engines. If so, this could accomplish a big aberration in approaching U.S. Postal Service ammunition budgets.