BMW has commissioned hydrogen fuel cells developed by Intelligent Energy for a new fleet of 130 Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs).
The AGVs will be utilised within its advanced vehicle assembly plant in Leipzig, Germany, BMW’s test bed for manufacturing automation and employs AGVs extensively in intralogistics.
Built in 2005, and backed by €5 billion (c. £4.4bn) of investment, the plant employs 6,800 people and produces about 1,300 cars each day.
The deployment follows a successful three-year trial in which battery-powered AGVs retrofitted with Intelligent Energy fuel cells showed greater reliability, efficiency and environmental performance.
Fifty of the new AGVs have been delivered to Leipzig and are already in use. The remaining units will enter service within the next six months.
Head of IE-POWER Stationary and Standby Power Solutions at Intelligent Energy, David Fields, said: “The three-year trial with BMW is the most comprehensive case study yet for our hydrogen fuel cells in an AGV application and the results speak for themselves.
“Fuel cells are well suited to material handling and intralogistics, where uptime and reliability are critical.
“BMW’s decision to adopt a purpose-built hydrogen fleet powered by our systems at one of the world’s most advanced car plants is a strong endorsement of their efficiency, reliability and performance.”
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