Hydrogen-powered taxi deployed in Abu Dhabi in green transport drive

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi is on a roll with its first hydrogen-powered taxi.

The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) in Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with Tawasul Transport, ADNOC Distribution, and Futtaim Automotive, has announced the pilot operation of the first hydrogen-powered taxi as part of the ITC's energy transformation towards achieving ideal sustainable urban transport.

This pioneering collaboration aims to bring about significant development in eco-friendly taxi transport to enhance Abu Dhabi's leading position in urban and sustainable transport.

Eco-friendly

The collaboration also focuses on promoting clean and sustainable energy-powered taxis, achieving Abu Dhabi's environmental goals that align with the COP28 and affirming the joint commitment to achieve high energy consumption efficiency in the emirate.

The cooperation between the partners plays a pivotal role in the optimal use of hydrogen-powered taxis, ensuring the operational efficiency of Tawasul Transport's smart hydrogen-powered taxis.

The ITC reiterated that using eco-friendly taxis is vital in intensifying Abu Dhabi's efforts to achieve its global sustainability goals with the accelerating global transition towards green transport systems.

Today, Abu Dhabi is one of the leading cities in the transformation to hydrogen-powered taxis since such vehicles are regarded as an alternative to the traditionally fuelled vehicles and are one of the key solutions to protect the environment and mitigate the negative effects of carbon emissions and pollution.

The ITC stated that the collaboration between Tawasul transport and the partners to launch the first hydrogen-powered smart taxi reflects the ITC's commitment to achieving the government's directives on clean energy, reducing carbon emissions of the taxi transport fleet, enhancing services according to the highest global standards to improve operational efficiency and accelerate the adoption of sustainable, safe, reliable and smart transport solutions.

Data-driven

Operational data, including the number of kilometres travelled, the amount of hydrogen used, operating hours, and the mechanism for clean refuelling operations will be thoroughly studied and analysed.

This data-driven approach ensures a higher level of transparency that optimises the evaluation of operational efficiency and continuous progress, which contributes to accelerating the adoption of sustainable and smart transportation solutions in Abu Dhabi.

Tawasul Transport will operate under the supervision of the Integrated Transport Centre to support devising a strategy for utilising clean energy and its smart taxis during major events, festivals and important visits, thus enhancing the status of Abu Dhabi as a sustainable transport hub.

The data analysed will contribute to determining the long-term feasibility of hydrogen-powered vehicles in taxi transport, proving that hydrogen fuelling is faster than traditional electric vehicle batteries, as it only takes a few minutes to charge.

Furthermore, hydrogen production depends on renewable sources of energy such as solar power and wind power and therefore achieves high energy consumption efficiency in Abu Dhabi.

Dubai's Road and Transport Authority has also endorsed a plan to transform taxis in Dubai (Dubai Taxi and franchise company taxis) into 100 per cent environmentally-friendly (hybrid, electric and hydrogen-powered) by 2027.