Hundreds of interested consumers attended the Hydrogen Road Tour 2008 at First Tennessee Pavilion to test drive one of eight vehicles that are travelling across the U.S. from Portland, Maine to Santa Monica, California. The Chattanooga event also provided additional information about the UT Chattanooga Center for Energy, Transportation, and the Environment.
“We were pleased with the big turnout,” UTC Provost Phil Oldham. “The University is leading in our community in the search for alternative fuels. This event recognized UTC’s research efforts in the field.”
The UT Chattanooga Center for Energy, Transportation, and the Environment (CETE) is a program of applied research at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to develop and deploy technologies that utilize clean and secure sources of energy. CETE resides within the College of Engineering and Computer Science, which strives to serve and support the people, businesses, and industries of the greater Chattanooga metropolitan area.
“The work of the Center in the use of hydrogen as a fuel for transportation will promote our nation’s energy independence while reducing exhaust emissions and bringing greater energy efficiency to the transportation industry. These objectives are critical goals for our country, and we are very pleased to have the support of the Federal Transit Administration for our efforts to re-commission the TVA Test Track, deploy a hydrogen fueled hybrid shuttle bus for our campus and establish the first hydrogen fueling station in Chattanooga,” Bailey said.
A program held during the Hydrogen Road Tour event featured Congressman Zach Wamp and U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Administrator Cheryl L. McQueary.
Among the offerings at the Ride and Drive event was the Volkswagen HyMotion Tiguan, the automaker’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell concept vehicle. Officials at Volkswagen were particularly pleased that the tour stopped in Chattanooga, home of its newly-announced U.S. production facility.
