Hydrogen buses gain traction

A new fuel cell bus and the first BRT bus in Europe running on hydrogen are expected on European roads from the end of 2019.

Belgian firm Van Hool is focussing on an electric future through hydrogen, soon launching the new A330 FC hydrogen bus and the Van Hool Exqui.City 18 FC bus.

The company is capable of producing three fuel cell (FC) buses weekly, and this is expected to reach up to one a day from September. It has production facilities in Belgium and Macedonia and plans to have a US factory running from 2020.

Van Hool says a fuel cell bus can carry 2.4 times more energy than a battery electric bus, and charged 8.5 times faster, Sustainable Bus reports.

Thirty of the new A330 FC buses will be delivered to Cologne (tendering 53 battery electric buses), and 10 others will be used in Wuppertal through the Jive 2 EU funded programme. For flat urban service lines, buses will have a 24kWh traction battery and 85kW hydrogen fuel stack, while regional and hilly city services will have a 36kWh traction battery.

Eight of the first BRT fuel cell buses, the 18.6 metre Van Hool Exqui.City 18 FC, will be delivered in Pao, France. It will carry up to 125 passengers. The articulated bus is equipped with a FCveloCity-HD 100kW fuel cell engine from Ballard.