UQM delivers motor for fuel-cell locomotive

FREDERICK — UQM Technologies Inc. (Amex: UQM) announced it delivered a PowerPhase 100 motor to Denver-based Vehicle Products LLC for use in a fuel cell-powered switch locomotive under development by a business consortium that includes Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., the U.S. Department of Defense and Vehicle Projects.

The experimental switch locomotive has the potential to reduce air pollution, does not rely on oil for fuel and could serve as a mobile backup power source for military and civilian disaster relief efforts. At 127 tons, the switch locomotive would be the heaviest and most powerful fuel-cell land vehicle ever developed.

“As a nation, we face two significant issues, global climate change and energy insecurity, both of which have a common factor: oil,´ said Arnold Miller, president of Vehicle Projects. “The world burns millions of barrels of oil for energy and the waste carbon is then emitted to the atmosphere. Because fuel cells don’t rely on oil as a fuel source, they solve these two issues. Along with our principal partners, we are developing proof-of-concept hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that are leading the way to this new technology.”

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Frederick-based UQM is a developer and manufacturer of power-dense, high-efficiency electric motors, generators and power electronic controllers for the automotive, aerospace, medical, military and military markets.