Canada / USA – New Flyer of America Inc of Crookston, Minnesota, USA (a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc of Winnipeg, Manitoba), said a test demonstration for the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) achieved 350-miles of zero-emission range with a New Flyer forty-foot, heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell-electric Xcelsior CHARGE H2 bus. These results exceeded the 300-mile range performance target by 17% without refuelling, the bus builder stated.

The Xcelsior CHARGE H2 was equipped with a Ballard Power Systems fuel cell, producing electricity in motion to continuously recharge the 100kWh of batteries to power a Siemens electric drive motor. The bus operated for 28 hours and achieved 10.4 miles per diesel gallon equivalent. When the hydrogen tanks were fully depleted, the zero-emission bus operated on battery reserve for an additional 20 miles, to achieve a combined range of 350 miles. The demonstration was completed on OCTA’s Route 47 operating from Fullerton to Newport Beach in April 2019 with a payload representing fully seated passenger capacity.