Exide and Ballard teaming up for fuel-cell-battery hybrid forklifts

Exide Technologies and Ballard Power Systems are teaming up to develop hybrid power systems for forklifts. Unlike most fuel cell systems for cars that have used either nickel metal hydride or lithium ion batteries, Exide is using their lead acid battery packs. They will be combined with a Ballard Mark 1020 fuel cell stack. That particular stack has mainly been used for stationary applications like telecoms backup systems. The Mark 1020 is designed to be lower cost and, when combined with the lead acid battery packs, could provide a cost effective solution to keeping batteries charged on the forklifts so that banks of replacement batteries don't have to take up floor space.

[Source: Ballard]