H-Power for Land Rover Defender

Could there be enough demand for a hydrogen fuel-cell electric overlander? Land Rover believes there might be…

The electric vehicle revolution is challenging for adventure vehicle brands. Batteries deliver potent power, but their limited range, weight, dependence on a recharging network and temperature sensitivity are all issues to those who use their vehicles for hardcore 4×4 adventuring.

Meanwhile, Land Rover has committed to some very ambitious electric fleet and emissions goals. It wishes to be a zero (tailpipe) emissions company by 2036 – and that means it will need an entirely battery-powered product portfolio. But will all of those future electric Land Rovers, be recharged by plug-in electricity?

Hydrogen has been widely touted as one of the alternative energy sources to replace petrol and diesel. Although plug-in electric vehicle designers believe the scale of current recharging networks, and their accelerated rollout, make BEVs better, some engineers still consider hydrogen to be viable.

Land Rover has confirmed that it is developing a hydrogen-powered Defender to test the technology. What are the benefits?

Hydrogen fuelled vehicles have excellent energy density, which makes them lighter than current BEVs. They also allow for rapid refuelling, especially when you are in something like a Defender, which needs a lot of energy to go a long way.

The other issue that hydrogen helps to address, is energy loss in cold conditions. Batteries suffer degradation of their energy capacity in extremely cold temperatures, which negatively impacts range.

For Defender owners, who are more given to use their vehicles for exploring, any performance loss in cold weather is a drawback. Especially so if your Defender is fully laden – or towing.

Land Rover will commence testing of its hydrogen-powered Defenders soon, under the guise of project Zeus. Its engineers are being assisted by staff and assets attached to the Advanced Propulsion Centre, at the University of Warwick.