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2 minute read

JCB invests £100m in hydrogen engine project

JCB is investing £100m in a project to produce super-efficient hydrogen engines, the company has announced.

A team of 100 engineers is already working on the development with the recruitment of up to 50 more engineers under way. The first machines are expected to be available for sale by the end of 2022.

A prototype hydrogen-powered JCB backhoe loader and a second JCB machine – a Loadall telescopic handler – have already been unveiled at a central London event (19 October) attended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. JCB’s hydrogen technology will next be on show in the Green Zone at COP26 in Glasgow, as world leaders debate measures to drastically reduce greenhouse emissions.

JCB is investing £100m in a project that will produce super-efficient hydrogen engines to power its machines / Picture: JCB

JCB chairman, Lord Bamford, said: “Our sort of machinery will need to be powered by something other than fossil fuels. We make machines which are powered by diesel so we have to find a solution and we are doing something about it now. We are investing in hydrogen as we don’t see electric being the all-round solution, particularly not for our industry because it can only be used to power smaller machines.

“It does mean we will carry on making engines, but they will be super-efficient, affordable, high-tech hydrogen motors with zero CO2 emissions, which can be brought to market quickly using our existing supply base. These will be our industry’s first hydrogen engines, developed in Great Britain by British engineers. Hydrogen motors have the potential to help the UK reach CO2 emissions targets more quickly.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, added: “Great British manufacturers like JCB are developing innovative solutions to slash greenhouse emissions and advance the UK’s green industrial revolution. It was fantastic to see JCB’s super-efficient hydrogen engines, which could overhaul UK manufacturing, help us to rapidly reach our climate targets and ramp up the UK’s hydrogen economy – an exciting area that will be essential to tackling climate change, creating new jobs and attracting investment.”

JCB has manufactured engines since 2004, producing them at plants in Derbyshire and in Delhi, India. This year JCB will celebrate a major milestone: the production of its 750,000th engine.


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