A fuel cell bus is a bus that uses a hydrogen fuel cell as its power source for electrically driven wheels, sometimes augmented in a hybrid fashion with batteries or a supercapacitor. The only emission from the bus is water. Several cities around the world have trialled and tested fuel cell buses, with over 5,600 buses in use worldwide, the majority of which are in China.
Background Owing to the greenhouse gas emissions and particulate pollution produced by diesel buses, transport operators have been moving towards greener and cleaner buses (such as hybrid electric buses and battery electric buses) since the early 2000s. However, battery electric buses lack range compared to diesel buses, take time to charge and have reduced energy storage in cold weather.
Transport operators have therefore evaluated alternatives such as hydrogen fuel cell buses. Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity by reacting hydrogen and oxygen in the presence of a catalyst, the by-product of which is water. This electricity is used as a power source for an electric motor, which drives the wheels of the bus. Some companies have proposed using the fuel cell as a range extender, combining it with a larger battery or a supercapacitor. Hydrogen has a higher energy density than lithium batteries, making it suitable for heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks.
The provenance of hydrogen fuel varies – with green hydrogen (produced using renewable electricity) being significantly more environmentally friendly than brown hydrogen (produced by burning coal or lignite) or grey hydrogen (produced by steam heating natural gas).
History
Initial tests and trials
In 1976, the Billings Energy Corporation tested a fuel cell minibus built on a Winnebago platform. It seated 19 passengers and ran on a 13 mile route from Provo to Orem, Utah. It was to be tested for the duration of one year.
Further research was done during the late 1980s, as raising concern regarding diesel emissions from buses led to experimentation regarding the use of fuel cells to power vehicles. Proof of concept work involved demonstrating that fuel cells could be packaged into a bus, and successfully power one. Between 1994 and 1995, the Georgetown Fuel Cell Bus Program (led by Georgetown University and the United States Department of Energy) demonstrated three buses powered by a phosphoric acid fuel cell from Fuji Electric. From the late 1990s, hydrogen-powered fuel-cell buses were trialled and experimented in a variety of cities. In 1998, Chicago and Vancouver began trials, using New Flyer Industries bus bodies and Ballard Power Systems hydrogen fuel cells. The three-year trial carried more than 200,000 passengers and travelled over .
From 2000, Hino and Toyota collaborated on the development of FCHV-BUS, a hydrogen fuel cell bus. After initial trials by Toei Bus in 2003, a fleet of 8 FCHV-BUS buses were then used at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. During the Expo, they carried one million visitors and travelled about 130,000 kilometres. The buses were subsequently used as airport shuttle buses.
In the United States, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NERL) in the United States has been undertaking research work on hydrogen fuel cell buses since 2000, in collaboration with the Federal Transit Administration. AC Transit in the San Francisco Bay Area began trials of a hydrogen fuel cell bus in 2002.
Clean Urban Transport for Europe From 2001, the European Union supported research project Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) began running hydrogen fuel cell powered buses in nine European cities, including London, Madrid and Hamburg.Vidueira, J.M.; Contreras, A.; Veziroglu, T.N. "PV autonomous installation to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, and its use in FC buses", International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. Sep2003, Vol. 28 Issue 9, p927. 11p. DOI: 10.1016/S0360-3199(02)00191-X The project was supported by a consortium of transportation operators, hydrogen infrastructure and fuel cell developers, universities and city authorities. Three other cities – Reykjavík, Beijing and Perth – took part in similar demonstration projects, supported by the same consortium. The Fuel Cell Bus Club became a forum to share experiences and information between cities and researchers.
All three projects used Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses, with hydrogen fuel cells from Ballard Power Systems. At the time they claimed to be the largest fleet of fuel cell buses in the world. The buses were estimated to cost US$1.2 million each and had a range of and carried around 70 passengers.
Completed in 2007, the projects were deemed a success by researchers.Kris Christen. "Europe's CUTE project for hydrogen-fuel-cell buses deemed a success", Environmental Science & Technology. 8/1/2006, Vol. 40 Issue 15, p4541-4541."Conference wraps up CUTE, next programs", Fuel Cells Bulletin. Jul2006, Vol. 2006 Issue 7, p10-10. 1p. DOI: 10.1016/S1464-2859(06)71128-2. However, the buses were criticised by some operators for their high cost of operation, with Madrid reporting that they were around ten times as costly to fuel. Dedicated hydrogen filling stations were also required to be built. The buses in Beijing – the first fuel cell buses in China – were withdrawn after one year, as air pollution reduced the efficiency and operating life of the fuel cells.
Further development
In 2006, the Federal Transit Administration announced the National Fuel Cell Bus Technology Development Program. $49 million in federal grants would be provided to transit agencies to help develop and test hydrogen fuel cell buses, to improve the potential commercialisation of them. In 2003, AC Transit introduced a Thor “ThunderPower” bus into trial service, with tests complete by October 2004. In 2006, five Van Hool buses powered by UTC Power fuel cells entered service. These were replaced in 2010 by other Van Hool hydrogen fuel cell buses.
In 2009, BC Transit began operating fuel-cell buses in the town of Whistler in British Columbia, prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics. The fleet of 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses was the largest in the world at the time, with the project costing around $94 million. Unlike previous projects, the hydrogen used was blue hydrogen, produced by Air Liquide in Quebec using hydroelectricity. Due to high operating costs, the program halted in 2015.
The first Brazilian hydrogen fuel cell bus prototype began operation in São Paulo in 2009. The hydrogen bus was manufactured in Caxias do Sul. The programme, called "Ônibus Brasileiro a Hidrogênio" (Brazilian Hydrogen Autobus), includes three additional buses.
In 2010, eight hydrogen buses were introduced into service in London, with a substantially larger range than the fuel cell buses used in the mid-2000s. At the time, this was the largest hydrogen bus fleet in Europe. Transport for London acknowledged the high cost of the buses and the high cost in fuelling them, but noted that they "[expected] the costs to drop dramatically" as they become commercially viable.
In China, hydrogen fuel cell buses were used at Beijing 2008, Expo 2010 in Shanghai and the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. These buses were developed by Higer Bus, with 3 deployed at Beijing 2008 and 196 at Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
In March 2015, Europe's largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses entered service in Aberdeen, Scotland. 10 Van Hool buses were used on a five-year trial.
Large scale commercial introduction
As of 2020, 5,648 hydrogen fuel cell buses are in use around the world, with 93.7% of them in China. Some early adopters of fuel cell buses have opted to focus on battery electric buses, with London having 950 battery electric buses, and 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses in their fleet as of 2023.
In 2015, Toyota began testing their updated hydrogen fuel cell bus in Tokyo, the Toyota FC Bus. Developed in conjunction with Hino Motors, it utilised technology from the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, as well as from Hino's hybrid buses. In 2017, Toyota unveiled the Toyota Sora bus, with production beginning in March 2018. By 2020, over 100 Toyota Sora buses had been delivered, operating on the Tokyo BRT, JR Bus Kanto and Toei Bus.
In 2018, Toyota announced that they would be supplying their hydrogen fuel cell technology to Portuguese bus manufacturer Caetano, for buses to be sold in Europe. The Caetano H2.City Gold has achieved numerous sales, such in Bielefeld, Cottbus, and Barcelona. Caetano has subsequently begun to brand the bus as a "Toyota", after Toyota became a majority shareholder.
In China, the Feichi (Allenbus) company began manufacturing hydrogen fuel cell buses in Yunfu after licensing the fuel cell technology from Ballard. The hydrogen fuel cell is combined with a 36kWh Lithium-ion battery, which powers the electric motors. Over 300 Feichi buses are now in service in the city of Foshan in Guangdong province in China. Other manufacturers in China also began to produce hydrogen fuel cell buses. Zhongtong Bus began a research and development programme in 2014, and began producing buses in 2016.
In 2018, Zhangjiakou ordered 74 hydrogen fuel cell buses in preparation for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. During the Games, over 800 hydrogen fuel cell buses and coaches were used from manufacturers Foton, Yutong, Geely and Zhongtong Bus. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were chosen over battery electric vehicles due to the cold weather prevalent in Hebei Province. The substantial use of hydrogen was criticised, given that much of China's hydrogen is "black hydrogen", produced by burning coal. This meant that each kilo of hydrogen produced around 15–20 kg of CO2.
Launched in 2017, the Hyundai Elec City entered commercial service in South Korea in December 2019. By June 2021, 108 buses were in service across South Korea. Trial operations of the ElecCity with Wiener Linien in Vienna, Austria were planned from November 2021, with further tests in Germany also announced. The ElecCity has a range of over , and a maximum output of 180 kW. The cities of Busan and Ulsan announced in 2022 that they planned to introduce over 620 buses by 2025.
In 2019, Polish bus manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach announced a hydrogen fuel cell bus on their popular Urbino 12 platform. This was subsequently tested by a range of major operators including RATP in Paris, and ordered by European bus operators including Connexxion, ÖBB Postbus, and MPK Poznań. In 2022, Solaris announced a hydrogen fuel cell version of their Urbino 18 articulated bus at InnoTrans 2022.
In 2020, the city of Nanning in China announced they planned to replace their entire 7,000 battery electric bus fleet with better performing hydrogen fuel cell/battery hybrid buses.
, the NERL was continuing work to evaluate fuel cell bus projects in the U.S., with 64 buses in service in California, Hawaii and Ohio. AC Transit has the largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses in the United States, with 22 buses in service from Van Hool and New Flyer. This will allow a direct comparison between battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses, to guide future purchasing decisions in light of a desire for a zero emission bus fleet. AC Transit noted that they had the "most comprehensive zero-emission bus (ZEB) program in the United States", and had run of service with zero emission buses since 2000.
In June 2021, the world's first hydrogen fuel cell double-decker bus (Wright StreetDeck Hydroliner) entered service with Metroline in London on route 7. These buses also entered service in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Hydroliner FCEV was developed as part of the European Union 'Joint Initiative for Hydrogen Vehicles across Europe' (JIVE).