UK – Wrightbus Ltd of Ballymena, UK has unveiled the second generation of its hydrogen-fuelled double deck range, featuring improvements to fuel efficiency and expanded passenger capacity compared to the first generation, launched in 2020.

Wrightbus’ ‘Streetdeck Hydroliner Gen 2.0’ was developed over four years as part of a project which was 50% funded by a grant from the Advanced Propulsion Centre. Wrightbus and its project partners – including Grayson Thermal Systems, Queen’s University Belfast, Hygen Energy Ltd¹, and operator Translink – redesigned the double decker “from the ground up”. The fuel cell system is a new design from Canadian supplier Ballard; the new vehicle can be refuelled in under eight minutes and boasts a range of over 300 miles. 
 
Other improvements include: 20% savings in fuel; 30% cost savings for maintenance parts over fifteen years; 5% increase in passenger capacity; and a new thermal management system developed by Grayson. The vehicle was developed and tested initially with simulation software from Queens University. Altogether, the project built six vehicles at a total cost of GBP11.2m.