The County of San Bernardino has signed an agreement with StratosFuel’s shared-vehicle program StratosShare to house five Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicles at its fleet management yard in the City of San Bernardino. The vehicles will be available on-demand to county departments through the fleet motor pool.
The concept behind StratosShare is for users to rent hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on-demand by the hour or day through a smartphone app. The app enables users to reserve, unlock, start and pay rental fees – all from their phone. Every trip includes hydrogen fuel and maintenance, making it convenient for short- and long-term rentals. The vehicles are strategically located in high-density areas and are accessible 24 hours a day.
With less than a year of operation, StratosShare has deployed vehicles to various locations, such as airports, universities, downtowns and office parks in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. As a way to expand and provide zero-emission transportation to locations that utilize vehicles daily, StratosShare is partnering with public entities to provide on-demand vehicles for employees.
“By utilizing the hydrogen-powered StratosShare vehicles, we hope to demonstrate the viability of the car-share concept in a fleet operation while reducing tailpipe and greenhouse gas emissions in the county fleet,” says Ron Lindsey, fleet management director for San Bernardino County.
The pilot agreement between San Bernardino County and StratosShare will provide an on-demand, zero-emissions alternative to using conventional county fleet vehicles. The StratosShare vehicles are stationed at the county yard and are available 24 hours a day for county departments. Through this agreement, San Bernardino County is one of the first in the state to have a shared hydrogen fleet.
StratosShare is currently expanding its on-demand car rental program throughout Southern California and is looking to bring the program to other areas of the state. StratosFuel is in charge of fueling and maintaining the vehicles, which utilize existing hydrogen infrastructure. The company has plans to develop more stations that will support its growing fleet.
Photo: StratosShare’s two company goals are using hydrogen as a fuel source and accessibility to zero-emission transportation