FRANCE Van Hool will showcase its first fully electric Exqui.City, at Transports Publics 2016, the international trade fair for public transport, which is being held in Paris from June 14 to 16. The fully electric Exqui.City is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a storage capacity of 215kWh giving it a range of 120km. The battery powers two electric water-cooled motors from the central Siemens ELFA two series, each with a capacity of 160 kW. The battery is mounted on the roof and can be conductively charged in two ways, either by an external pantograph (installed at the terminus) that’s lowered from above onto insulated V-shaped charging rails on the roof or the vehicle can be connected up to the electricity grid by plugging a connector in the front of the vehicle into a designated power outlet. This ‘night charge’ takes around four hours for a full charge from 0% to 100%. The high- voltage electrical components are hidden away on the roof of the vehicle with protective panels. This new service is part of the city public transport network and part of its global overhaul. Inaugurated by François Bayrou, Mayor and President of the Pau Béarn Pyrénées intercommunal area, it was opened to the public on 17 December 2019. has been a significant year for the Belgian manufacturer, with regards to hydrogen bus activities: the new A330 FC hydrogen bus and the innovative Van Hool Exqui.City 18 FC bus have been launched. The latter debuted in December 2019 in Pau, south of France. It stands out for being the world’s first hydrogen-powered BRT system. Eight Van Hool Exqui.City FC 18-meter hydrogen buses serve14 stations along a six kilometre long dedicated BRT lane with priority at crossroads. Van Hool, the commercial viability of fuel cell buses…

It is worth mentioning that SASA has already carried out an experiment with hydrogen buses, namely five Mercedes Citaro fuel cell buses, as part of the EU-funded CHIC (Clean Hydrogen in European Cities) project. The vehicles are still in operation. With the ambition of becoming a leading global manufacturer of fuel-cell systems, Cellcentric (founded in March 2021) is expected to build one of Europe’s largest planned series production of fuel-cell systems, with operation planned to commence in 2025. To accelerate the rollout of hydrogen-based fuel-cells, the two cellcentric shareholders call for a harmonized EU hydrogen policy framework to support the technology in becoming a viable commercial solution. 2022, large fuel cell bus projects gain shape This RV ladder mount attaches to your exterior rear ladder to help you transport things like waste totes, bikes, and chairs. It’s made of lightweight aluminium and is durable enough to hold up to 22.5 kg.

FlixBusannounced in late 2019 that the group is working to prepare the introduction of hydrogen buses in its long distance bus network. A collaboration between the green and orange colored brand and Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, aimed at studying this possibility, has been launched. After all, China always proves to be ahead when it comes to the transition to zero emission buses. The city of Nanjing, for instance, is planning to switch the battery-electric bus fleet (that amounts to no less than 7,000 vehicles) to hydrogen. Van Hool, fuel cell buses since… years

Solaris has not been the only bus manufacturer to choose the year 2019 to unveil its first fuel cell bus project. Portuguese Caetano debuted on the fuel cell bus stage in October 2019 at Busworld with its H2.City Gold, shortly after Solaris had taken advantage of June’s UITP Global Public Transport Summit to plant a flag in the segment, too. The Caetano has a major string to its bow: its exclusive partnership with Toyota. The Portuguese bus builder will be the first to use the Japanese colossus’ fuel cells. Caetano fuel cell bus H2.City Gold is also the only model shorter than 12 m. While Solaris reserves hydrogen for its 12 m and Van Hool already has the 12 m and 18 m on the range, Caetano offers a 10.7 m variant. Though matching the high costs of hydrogen technology to a low passenger capacity model may look like a gamble, this version has the merit of filling a gap in the market. Toyota invests in CaetanoBus: a bet on hydrogen bus technology A consortium of 14 companies from the fields of development, technology and science is part of the project. The demonstration phase under real operating conditions of the buses started at the beginning of the year and will last up to three years. The total project duration is scheduled for five years. Hydrogen buses in Australia, a project

Van Hool and hydrogen buses

May 2020, an ambitious project on fuel cell buses saw the light in Australia. 100 hydrogen buses on Australian roads. It’s the target, at least for Phase 1, of the H2OzBus Project, which has the goal of exploring delivery of innovative and sustainable transport solutions in the country. A metaphorical award for the most original hydrogen bus layout to date goes to the VDL-made fuel cell buses deployed in the Netherlands by Connexxion starting in summer 2020. The vehiclesare realized adding a trailer (housing the fuel cell technology) to the bus, that actually results in a battery-electric bus with fuel cell range extender. The largest single fuel cell bus tender so far has been awarded to Solaris in September 2023: 130 Urbino 12 hydrogen will be deployed in Bologna (Italy) by TPER within 2026. The evolution of fuel cell bus concepts in Europe With regards to the size, Rampini unveiled in September 2022 the Rampini Hydron, powered by hydrogen fuel cell: announced in late 2020, Rampini Hydron is an 8-meter long hydrogen bus capable of transporting up to 48 peopleand features a stated range of 450 kilometers. It is the first H2-powered 8-meter bus in Europe. Canadian Loop Energy has been chosen as fuel cell module provider. Skoda, here it comes the fuel cell bus In early 2021, Solaris has also sold 13 fuel cell busesinFrankfurt. The buses areto bedeployed ontarget routes in2022. The Polish company announces it haswon atender call made bythe company In-der-City-Buswhich isin charge ofpublic transport inFrankfurt. CaetanoBus: the hydrogen bus with Toyota tech

Finally, in mid 2022 RVK Cologne has awarded as many as 100 fuel cell buses to Solaris and Wrightbus. A new fuel cell bus and the first BRT bus running on hydrogen. Van Hool bets on the electric future through hydrogen. The efforts of the Belgian company have long since been focused on the development of hydrogen drive. Two premieres are ready to be launched in the short and medium term: the new A330 FC hydrogen bus and the innovative Van Hool Exqui.City 18 FC bus, which will be on the road from the end of 2019 in Pau, France. It will be the first BRT system in Europe running on hydrogen. Van Hool, focus on hydrogen in Europe and US In 2019, taking the opportunity of the UITP Global Public Transport Summit, Polish manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach launched its first fuel cell bus Solaris Urbino hydrogen.

Van Hool, focus on hydrogen in Europe and US

The 8 Van Hool Exqui.City FC trambuses are powered Ballard FCveloCity-HD 100-kW fuel cell modules. Ballard Power Systems shipped modules to Van Hool in 2018. The vehicles use fuel cells for primary power and lithium batteries for additional power when needed, with the only emission being water vapour.

Here’s the position of Van Hool’s CEO Filip Van Hool with regards to commercial viability of fuel cell solutions: «Hydrogen buses are already competitive when you compare them with battery buses. In many cities there have been tests on battery buses in these years, and the conclusion very often is that the battery electric bus is good inside the city because it has limited range. When operators need more range, there are some problems. It is impossible to replace one diesel bus with one battery electric bus: you need more battery electric buses, because of longer charging times and limitation in range. I think battery buses and hydrogen buses will coexist. If the operator doesn’t want to double the number of vehicles and needs longer range the best application is hydrogen. But we don’t believe only on hydrogen: we have also battery buses in portfolio. Today is necessary to have everything. You know why?» 2019, fuel cell buses from Solaris and CaetanoBus unveiled With regards to the Van Hool Exqui.City FC, CEO Filip Van Hool said in an interview with Sustainable Bus that « the same platform will be used to offer an articulated fuel cell bus in classical look, so not designed for BRT. In this way we will have a complete range of fuel cell buses, with both the 12 and the 18 meter version». Hydrogen buses in Pau’s city centerCaetanoBusandIndustria Italiana Autobus(IIA) have signed an agreement in October 2022 to start the production and marketing in Italy ofhydrogen-powered city busesbased on Toyota Fuel Cell technology and an H2.City Power Kit system developed by CaetanoBus. Rampini launched a 8-meter fuel cell bus giving a name to exq scheduler and specifying the same name in exq ui config. config :exq_scheduler , name : ExqScheduler config :exq_ui , exq_scheduler_name : ExqScheduler In late 2022 Bologna announced it launching one of the largest fuel cell bus projects in Europe so far, with 127 units expected to be in operation by mid-2026 (34 to arrive by 2024). Tender was published in March 2023, awarding was done in early September – as mentioned in the opening of this article. Winner? Solaris!