Hydrogen taxi service was launched in Hamburg offering up to 40% lower fares than regular taxis

On 8 September, the German ride-hailing service CleverShuttle launched its first hydrogen fuel cell fleet of taxis in Hamburg.

CleverShuttle constitutes a Berlin-based start-up which operates since 2015 as an innovative ride-sharing service, which also offers individual rides.

More specifically, the service operates exclusively on low carbon vehicles, and offers tailored algorithms for on-demand ride sharing, on-demand pooling and route optimization.

The company launched its first hydrogen scheme in Hamburg, with a fleet of ten Toyotas initially and with plans add twenty more by the end of 2017.

According to Deutsche Bahn, which partly owns CleverShuttle, customers will be able to save around 40 per cent compared to normal taxi fares, while also being part of the clean transportation revolution.

CleverShuttle’s hydrogen scheme operates in a 70-square kilometre radius so far, and the service is available between 6pm and 1am on weekdays.

Frank Horch, Senator for Economy, Transport and Innovation said: “The use of eco-friendly, fuel-cell cars creates an economic, efficient form of transport and avoids pollutants as well”.

“Thus the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg is funding the project with €200,000”.

The city will also provide funds for the construction of charging infrastructure.

Mr Horch added: “Switching to pollutant-free traffic is particularly important to us. That’s why we are prioritising electric transport and fuel-cell technology as part of that concept”.

“By the end of this year, we will have over 600 public charging points for electric cars and five hydrogen refuelling stations”.

Germany has seen a slight increase of the deployment of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, but due to the fact that there are currently only 18 charging stations in the country, the scope is limited to short-driving distances.

Hydrogen Refuelling Network has reported that there are plans for 100 hydrogen refuelling stations by 2018 and a strong network of 400 stations by 2023.

CleverShuttle operates fleets in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig and have already announced that they will start operations in Dresden, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt within the next year.

Find more about the company here.