Hydrogenics hybrid midibuses for Spain

NEWS road vehicles Editorial office: Elsevier Ltd The Boulevard, Langford Lane Kidlington Oxford OX5 1GB United Kingdom Tel:+44 (0)1865 843239 Fax: +44 (0)1865 853160 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.fuelcellsbulletin.com Editor: Steve Barrett Production Editor: Alan Stubley Subscription Information An annual subscription to Fuel Cells Bulletin includes 12 printed issues and online access for up to 5 users. Prices:
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Fuel Cells Bulletin

London signs up for hydrogen bus fleet

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ransport for London (TfL), an integrated body responsible for the UK capital’s transportation systems, has signed a contract with US-based ISE Corporation to supply 10 hydrogenpowered buses for delivery by 2010. The contract, worth £9.65 million (US$19 million), covers not only the initial cost of the vehicles themselves, but also the specialist maintenance and replacement parts over a five-year period after delivery. Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, confirmed that the 10 hydrogen-powered buses are part of his plan to have up to 70 hydrogen vehicles in operation in London by 2010, as set out in the London Hydrogen Partnership’s Transport Action Plan. London will become the first city in Europe to operate a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen hybrid internal combustion engine (HHICE) buses. All of the hydrogen-powered buses will use ISE’s ThunderVolt series hybrid drive system technology. Five will be hydrogen hybrid fuel cell buses, while the rest will be HHICE vehicles. ISE will be working with a number of partners, including The Wright Group, a bus manufacturer in Northern Ireland, and Canadian-based Ballard Power Systems. Transit operator First Group will operate the new fleet for TfL. Ballard is providing its sixth-generation HD6 bus module to the consortium. Building on the momentum of the recently announced program, involving 20 buses for BC Transit in Canada, the London project will be the first to incorporate a 75 kW version of the HD6 module in a fuel cell hybrid transit bus. This project complements the activities of the Hydrogen Bus Alliance, which TfL was integral in setting up [FCB, November 2007]. The alliance comprises representatives from the public transport authorities of several international cities and regions that have made a commitment to buy at least five new hydrogen buses each to enter operation between 2008 and 2012. TfL previously took part in the EC-funded Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) project to test hydrogen technology in nine European cities. Several of the participants (including London) also took part in the oneyear Hy:FLEET CUTE extension. Contact: ISE Corporation, Poway, California, USA. Tel: +1 858 413 1720, www.isecorp.com

Or contact: Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 0900, www.ballard.com For more on the Hydrogen Bus Alliance, go to: www.hydrogenbusalliance.org

Hydrogenics hybrid midibuses for Spain

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anadian-based Hydrogenics has received a US$1.7 million order for the delivery of three Fuel Cell Hybrid MidiBuses to the upcoming 2008 International Exposition, Expoagua Zaragoza 2008, taking place this summer in Spain. The buses will be used to shuttle Expo visitors attending this international event focused on the theme of Water and Sustainable Development. Hydrogenics’ German-based team will integrate a standard HyPM® fuel cell power module as part of a hybrid power system into a Tecnobus Gulliver all-electric Midibus powertrain. This order for three Midibuses, achieved through a public tender, follows the success of delivering three earlier Midibuses on the same OEM platform to Düsseldorf, Germany and Rome, Italy. ‘Our standard HyPM-HD power module has proven itself to be very suited for hybrid configurations on an electric shuttle bus platform,’ says Daryl Wilson, president/CEO of Hydrogenics. ‘As with our core markets, our bus market strategy involves transitioning our integration expertise to an original equipment manufacturer, in this case a bus manufacturer.’ Fuel cell hybrid shuttle buses are ideal for a range of niche transit applications where battery power on its own exhibits certain deficiencies, primarily related to duration of charge. The hybrid design will allow the Midibus to travel up to 200 km (125 miles) on one filling of hydrogen, compared with only 60–80 km (37–50 miles) on lead-acid batteries alone. Depending on the average running load of the bus and the fuel cell power output required, hybrid fuel cell systems are also more cost-effective than powertrains powered solely by hydrogen fuel cells. Contact: Hydrogenics Corporation, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Tel: +1 905 361 3660, www.hydrogenics.com

Texas‘s first fuel cell bus

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n the US, the University of Texas at Austin and the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) have set up a joint technology program to oversee the licensing and operation of the first hydrogen fuel cell bus in Texas.

January 2008