Cellex Power Products used four Crown PE4000 rider pallet trucks to test its Alpha hydrogen power units during field trials at Richmond-based London Drugs Ltd.

Cellex president and chief executive Chris Reid said the forklifts powered by the Cellex products were able to run at a "consistent maximum power".

"Cellex's products ran longer than batteries (and) refuelled much quicker than swapping a battery," he said.

The five-day demonstration in late December took place at the retailer's distribution centre in Richmond.

London Drugs operates 62 stores in four western Canadian provinces.

Canadian Government foundation Sustainable Development Technology Canada provided CND2 million for the project.

Cellex has conducted four sets of field trials and accumulated almost 300 forklift-days of operation in real applications at customer sites.

BOC Group, of Murray Hill, NJ, United States, supported the latest trials with hydrogen supply and collaborated with Cellex on hydrogen dispensing.