Wanted: A Few Good Fleets -- California Fuel Cell Partnership Initiates Fleet Vehicle Demonstration Questionnaire

    WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif.--Feb. 3, 2003--The California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) today announced it has started a new website-based questionnaire to gather information from those interested in helping to test and operate fuel cell electric vehicles and related infrastructure in real-world conditions.
    The questionnaire -- found at www.fuelcellpartnership.org in the "new online" section -- allows managers of public or private-sector vehicle fleets to submit information and express interest in serving as a fleet demonstration site for fuel cell vehicles. CaFCP's automotive members, who are already beginning to place limited numbers of vehicles into actual day-to-day applications, may use the data as a source of potential fleet participants.
    "There's tremendous interest out there by companies desiring to participate through real-world fuel cell vehicle testing," said Alan Lloyd, CaFCP Chairman and Chairman of the California Air Resources Board. "While offering no guarantees that they'll be selected for fleet testing, this survey does provide a means of directly signaling a fleet's interest and availability for testing a clean-air technology of the future."
    The web-based questionnaire was jointly developed with the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through its National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The site seeks information on fleet use, typical routes, experience, on-site support facilities, and funding resources.
    Automakers select fleets based on specific criteria and expectations, including previous experience with alternative fuels; community and fleet-driver commitment to the project; and a willingness to dedicate resources (such as personnel and funding) to the effort.
    The CaFCP -- which started in April 1999 -- includes auto manufacturers (DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen); energy providers (BP, ExxonMobil, Shell Hydrogen, and ChevronTexaco); fuel cell companies (Ballard Power Systems and UTC Fuel Cells); and government agencies (California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, South Coast AQMD, US Department of Energy, US Department of Transportation and US EPA).
    The Partnership is a voluntary effort to advance a new automobile technology that could move the world toward practical and affordable environmental solutions. CaFCP is demonstrating fuel cell-powered electric vehicles under real day-to-day driving conditions; testing alternative fuels and demonstrating the viability of an alternative fuel infrastructure technology; exploring the path to commercialization; and increasing public awareness of fuel cell electric vehicles. The Partnership expects to place about 60 fuel cell vehicles on the road by the end of 2003.