APEP Deploys Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicles to the Irvine Company

January 14, 2013


Toyota FCHV Shown in Front of an Irvine Company Building

The Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) at UC Irvine deployed two Toyota Fuel Cell Vehicles to the Irvine Company in November. APEP hosts the world’s largest university program in the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell vehicles. As of today, five individual drivers from two departments within the Irvine Company are expected to be using the vehicles. Those drivers are using UC Irvine’s very own hydrogen fueling station and will also have access to the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) hydrogen fueling station, which dispenses bio-hydrogen produced from wastewater. The lease of fuel cell vehicles is an example the Irvine Company’s continuing leadership in sustainable development through their environmental stewardship of master planning and building tactics since the 1950s.

The fuel cell vehicles deployed at the Irvine Company are part of an APEP fuel cell vehicle deployment program that has been ongoing since 2002. The program has included fuel cell vehicles from Toyota and General Motors.In addition, APEP manages two hydrogen stations in Orange County as part of its deployment program.The UC Irvine hydrogen station was the first 24-hour publicly accessible hydrogen station in the United States, and the OCSD hydrogen station is the first in the world to produce bio-hydrogen on site. Orange County, and in particular Irvine, has become a hub for the early deployment of fuel cell vehicles which many automakers plan to retail in 2015.