The City of Copenhagen has announced the establishment of its first hydrogen fueling station, alongside a mini-fleet of fuel cell vehicles, and hopes that the move will help it towards the ambitious goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral capital city in the world by 2025.

Following the recent news of a growing hydrogen fueling system in Germany, the new facility also opens up the intriguing proposition of a cross-border European hydrogen infrastructure.

According to grandly titled Technology and Environment Mayor Klaus Bondam, “Today we are putting Copenhagen on the map as a champion of clean transport. Together with [fuel cell vehicle integrator] H2 Logic, Copenhagen is setting in motion the development of hydrogen transport in Denmark and in northern Europe, because the hydrogen filling station in Copenhagen will help provide future hydrogen-powered vehicles from Scandinavia and Germany with hydrogen.”

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Indiana-based Bright Automotive has released some pretty impressive performance figures for its technically (and aerodynamically!) slick new IDEA cargo van. Aimed primarily at delivery fleets and in-town rental companies, the freshly-upgraded guppy promises to shave operating costs by thousands of dollars per year, per van.

More pictures, an official company press release, and my own opinions (that nobody asked for) after the jump.

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London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced plans to create Britain’s first “hydrogen highway” by building a network of hydrogen filling stations throughout the capital.

As part of the scheme, a pilot fleet of around 150 hydrogen cars, five buses and 20 black taxis will be assembled in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.

The flamboyant mayor has gone on record as saying that he wants Britain to become a world leader in fuel cell technology and his team have made the ambitious claim that, within twenty years, up to one in three of the 31m cars in Britain could be fuelled by hydrogen.

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Scanning the week’s news of the leading fleet magazine, more than half the headlines are focused on automotive manufacturers including Toyota, Ford, Nissan and their commitment to greening of their fleets by moving to electric vehicle technologies.

For example, Nissan plans to use a $1.6 billion U.S. loan to rework a Tennessee factory so that battery-powered cars can be manufactured there. Ford Motor Company said it has developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that “talks” with the nation’s electric grid.

Indeed it is exciting to read on a daily basis how much closer we are to the reality of EV’s for consumers and fleets.  Fleets will be the first mass adopters of EVs and PHEVs. We are already seeing businesses, government agencies, cities and countries across the world that are making significant and meaningful steps to reducing their fuel costs, our nation’s dependence on imported fuel, and our carbon footprint by converting their gas guzzling and polluting fleets to eco friendly EV’s…but what about the infrastructure needed to support such vehicles?  Is there different technology needed to support EV fleets vs. consumer EVs?  Just what are the needs of fleet managers when it comes to EV fleets?

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In order to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in the delivery of new automobiles, Honda has launched a 400-car fleet of new Auto-Max railcars to carry its products from factory to city.  Currently, Honda transports 82 percent of its Honda and Acura cars by rail, more than another other automaker.

The new, multi-level rail cars hold up to 22 vehicles, both cars and trucks, to reduce unused space.  Honda says conventional rail cars hold only 10 trucks.

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The environmentally friendlier fuel will hopefully sharply reduce toxic diesel exhaust linked to a higher risk of asthma and premature death. Just last month, Mayor Newsom announced a new project called SFGreasecycle, a program to collect fats and cooking oils from restaurants, at no charge.All of the city’s 1,500 diesel vehicles power up using the fuel known as B20, a mix of 20 percent soy-based biofuel and 80 percent petroleum diesel fuel, which reduces toxic emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and other pollutants that lead to global warming.

Although B20 marks an improvement, it’s still 80 percent petroleum diesel. We’re looking for B100. And we have word of a B100 station opening soon.

In this writer’s opinion, Bright’s IDEA—with its 40+ mpg efficiency and massive cargo room—is the perfect platform for a modern, low-emission RV in the spirit of VW’s classic camper vans (above).

Surely, all the benefits of more cost-effective operation and reduced environmental impact that make Bright’s IDEA van ideally suited for delivering hardware and lumber apply to the RV market as well, and with that market’s B-class “weekend” RVs primarily powered by large conventional V8s and (relatively) low-efficiency diesels, the IDEA van could make a strong case for itself, indeed.

Looks like there’s plenty of room back there, anyway…

If you were to ask John Waters, Bright’s President and CEO, about building an IDEA-based camper, I doubt he’d try to talk you out of it. I’ve already dropped him an email—if I hear back, you can bet I’ll post his response in the comments.

Official press release on the next page…

Bright Automotive Announces Performance Upgrade for Revolutionary 100 MPG IDEA Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle

ANDERSON, IN (October 20, 2009) – Bright Automotive, Inc. today announced new performance figures for the IDEA, its revolutionary plug-in hybrid electric commercial vehicle. The IDEA has been upgraded to deliver 40 miles of all electric range and nearly 40 MPG in standard hybrid mode. Each IDEA vehicle will save typical fleet and government operators 18 cents per mile, reduce gasoline use by 1,500 gallons per year, and reduce CO2 emissions by 16 tons per year.

Assumptions are included below.

“The IDEA enables fleet owners to go even farther in EV mode, creating greater cost and environmental impact savings,” said John E. Waters, CEO and President of Bright Automotive. “Congress and the Administration are demanding change in the auto industry. Bright Automotive is answering the nation’s call by maximizing economic value for our customers through performance and sustainability, while applying the battery electric vehicle tax credits available under current federal policy.”

The performance figures are the result of a new 13kwHr battery pack, which allows the IDEA to operate for 40 miles in charge depletion (EV) mode, and then switch to a class-leading 36 MPG (minimum) charge sustaining (standard hybrid) mode. For many fleet operators, the added EV range will allow them to operate almost entirely gasoline-free. The result: a fleet of 250,000 IDEAS will save 30 million tons of CO2 and 2.8 billion gallons of fuel over their 150,000-mile life-cycle.

“After speaking to major fleet operators and measuring how they use their vehicles, we modified the performance of the IDEA to better suit their needs and to save them even more money,” said Waters. “The IDEA was created by listening to customers and developing innovative solutions to meet their needs - customers remain our top priority as we continue vehicle development.”

In just over a year, Anderson, Indiana-based Bright Automotive developed the IDEA - a revolutionary multi-purpose, PHEV in the light truck classification aimed at commercial and government fleets. The IDEA, announced on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. last April, is 5 to 10 times more fuel efficient than current commercial fleet vehicles. Each IDEA will save a typical fleet customer more than 1,500 gallons of gasoline and thousands of dollars in fuel costs annually.

Bright Automotive has leveraged the industry’s most experienced EV/PHEV team to develop the IDEA, a revolutionary, purpose-built, PHEV utility fleet vehicle. Bright Automotive CEO John E. Waters developed the battery pack for the General Motors EV1, while collectively, the Bright Automotive team has, previously in their careers, developed and launched close to 40 vehicle platforms.

Assumptions

• Gas prices at $3.15/gallon in 2013 (U.S. Department of Energy estimate)
• Drive cycle of 80 miles/day, 5 days per week, 50 weeks/year = 20,000 miles/year
• Utilizes “LA92″ drive cycle (considered most realistic EPA cycle – city/highway mixture)
• 150,000 miles vehicle life (equates to 7.5 years)
• Competitive comparisons based on weighted average volume of 2007 plus 2008 model year sales
• Fuel economy, range and vehicle performance numbers are based on an unladen vehicle
• Macro measures (CO2 and fuel savings) are based on a laden vehicle

Source and Image Credits: Bright Automotive via Autoblog Green; amandabhslater’s Flickr Page, under a Creative Commons License.