"So beautifully quiet"
FAUN welcomed Member of European Parliament (MEP) and Vice-President of the European People's Party (EPP) David McAllister, on Monday 17.02.2020 at their plant in Heilshorn/Germany. The MEP met with FAUN management group, the Mayor of Osterholzer/Germany Torsten Rohde, District Administrator Bernd Lütjen, and former District Director Hans-Dieter von Friedrichs, to discuss strategies for the hydrogen infrastructure expansion to enable energy supply for emission-free heavy-duty traffic.
After test-driving the ROTOPRESS BLUEPOWER, FAUN's waste collection vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells, McAllister explains, "So nice and quiet. FAUN has developed the battery hydrogen drive system ready for series production and is building 22 of these emission-free vehicles this year. The basis for the vehicle is a Mercedes Benz Econic as a glider, in which battery packs, fuel cells and hydrogen tanks are installed in place of the combustion engine and exhaust system. The vehicles will be assembled according to the area of application. Hydrogen is an ideal carrier; the medium is light and has a high density, so that longer operating times are no problem.”
For FAUN, hydrogen is the only reasonable drive system. Only with this resource, a closed energy cycle is possible. With the BLUEPOWER vehicles, FAUN provides companies with one hundred percent electric and emission-free waste collection vehicles and sweepers. Noise emissions are also marginal, as all units have been optimized for quiet and energy-efficient operation. The electrical energy produced by the fuel cells from hydrogen is not only used for driving, but also for all vehicle body functions.
Domestic waste collection is stopped frequently, in densely populated areas every few meters. With conventional chassis, a lot of energy is converted into heat that cannot be used any further at the brakes, but BLUEPOWER vehicles store this energy in the batteries for later use. This means that a BLUEPOWER vehicle requires up to 40% less energy, is CO2 and NOx-free, and emits less particle matter. FAUN is thus making a valuable contribution to the hot topic of climate protection.
Picture: Looking to the future, (from left): Matthias Kohlmann (CFO FAUN Group and President of the Stade Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Elbe Weser region), Torsten Rohde (Mayor Osterholz-Scharmbeck), Thorsten Baumeister (COO FAUN Group), Bernd Lütjen (District Administrator Osterholz), Hans-Dieter von Friedrichs (District Director a.D.), Burkard Oppmann (Managing Director FAUN Services GmbH), David McAllister, Dr. Johannes F. Kirchhoff (Managing Partner KIRCHHOFF Group), Patrick Hermanspann (CEO FAUN Group)
