“Raymond is committed to demonstrating the advantages that hydrogen fuel cells can offer the materials handling industry,” says James Malvaso, president and CEO for The Raymond Corporation. “This partnership will further enhance our research into fuel cell-powered lift trucks and help uncover additional value related to the merging of these technologies.”

The Raymond Corporation began a three-year research program of hydrogen fuel cells in January 2007 by using Raymond’s Greene manufacturing facility as a “living lab.” The research includes using hydrogen fuel cell-powered Raymond® lift trucks in real applications including an indoor, fast-fill hydrogen refueling system.

Advantages of a fuel cell solution over batteries have been shown to include: increased uptime; consistent power; longer runtime; and elimination of battery storage. These advantages create tangible economic and operational benefits. In addition, fuel cells are a clean technology, producing zero emissions while removing the need to handle and dispose of lead acid batteries.

“We are pleased to partner with an important materials handling equipment manufacturer of Raymond’s caliber,” says John Sheridan, president and CEO of Ballard. “Raymond has a deep understanding of end-user needs, and we believe that a successful prototype could represent the first important step toward purpose-built fuel cell lift trucks.”

For more information about Raymond’s fuel cell research program or to locate a Raymond dealer, visit www.raymondcorp.com or call (800) 235-7200.

The Raymond Corporation is the leading North American provider of materials handling solutions that improve space utilization and productivity, with lower cost of operation and greater operator acceptance. High-performance, reliable, ergonomically designed Raymond products range from a full line of manual and electric pallet trucks and walkie stackers to counterbalanced trucks, Reach-Fork® trucks, orderpickers and dual-purpose (pallet handling/case picking) Swing-Reach® trucks.            

Ballard Power Systems (TSX: BLD; NASDAQ: BLDP) is recognized as a world leader in the design, development, manufacture and sale of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells. Ballard’s mission is to accelerate fuel cell market adoption. To learn more about what Ballard is doing with Power to Change the World®, visit www.ballard.com