by US correspondent Roger Renstrom
As part of a US Army research project, a Hyster J50Z forklift with a Hydricity fuel cell power pack will go on display from July 21 to July 29 at the North Dakota state fair, in Minot.

Hyster built the 5,000lb (2,250 kg) -capacity, counterbalanced sit-down rider in Irvine, Scotland, and made the power conversion to fuel cell from battery at its Portland, Oregon, USA, facility.

Specification of pneumatic tyres for off-road applications required installation of an 80-volt drive system rather than the typical 36 or 48-volt system for solid-tyred North American forklifts. A cab was added so the forklift could operate in the region's extreme winter climate.

Project collaborators are ePower Synergies Inc, of Cordova, Illinois, USA, which owns the Hyster; Hydricity pack maker General Hydrogen Corporation, of Richmond, Canada; the US Army Corps of Engineers' Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, of Champaign, Illinois, USA; and the University of North Dakota's Energy & Environmental Research Centre, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA.

The Hyster was deployed in May with the Army National Guard in Grand Forks for a one-year demonstration.