On 5 September 2018, a delegation led by the Japanese Vice Minister of Transport, Masatoshi Akimoto, visited Berlin and test drove a fuel cell vehicle. Accompanying him on his city tour, which included a stop for refuelling at the Holzmarktstrasse hydrogen station – was Thorsten Herbert, NOW Head of Transport and Infrastructure.
Akimoto praised the streamlined German system, in which end customers can refuel their fuel cell cars for themselves. In Japan, this is only possible with trained personnel. Japan and Germany have been exchanging ideas and experiences on the subject of hydrogen and fuel cell technology for years, among other things within the scope of an international workshop initiated by the Japanese NEDO and NOW dealing with technical aspects of hydrogen infrastructure, which will take place in Boston next week, 10-11 September.