The ‘VPT60N’ is a fuel cell electric powertrain designed for use in cars, light commercial vehicles, and certain off-highway applications.

Delegates of Hydrogen UK’s annual conference, held at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham on 12 March, left the event with no doubts about the future of the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Opening the conference, Clare Jackson, CEO of Hydrogen UK, declared that “net zero is not possible without hydrogen”. The burning question is, will the UK have any significant part in its development?

The total number of city buses with alternative drivelines in European Union 27 countries plus the UK, Norway (NO), Iceland (ICE) and Switzerland (EU 27+4) totalled 13,466 units  comprising 6,354 electric buses (excludes trolley buses), 4,022 hybrid-electric buses, 2,883 CNG buses and 207, hydrogen (fuel cell) buses.

The company has appointed Dr Christian Mohrdieck as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective immediately. Hyzon stated that Mohrdieck will oversee all product commercialisation, specifically focusing on the start of production of its single-stack 200kW Fuel Cell System (FCS), scaling up manufacturing and advancing the company’s R&D operations.

Both subsystems are intended for easy integration into prototype and development vehicles, providing some of the necessary electronic components between the fuel cell stack/auxiliary battery and the traction motor.

Throughout 2024, Ballard will supply 100 hydrogen fuel cell engines (FCmove-HD) to power New Flyer’s Xcelsior Charge FC buses in North America. The engines will be produced in Ballard’s Oregon Facility in the U.S.A.

Greg Marx, Applications Engineer, Power & Propulsion Solutions at BAE Systems, provided an overview of the evolution of fuel cell architecture in transit buses in North America in a presentation at APTA Expo 2023 held in early October in Orlando, Florida, USA.

According to the terms of the agreement, Symbio will play the role of mentor to startups working in the hydrogen sector.

Isuzu has announced plans to build an electric vehicle development and testing facility within its Fujisawa plant, to help it achieve its target of having a full range of carbon-neutral vehicles by 2030.

The first three of forty-six Mercedes-Benz eCitaro articulated 18m electric buses were delivered to German public transport operator Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH. These vehicles will operate throughout the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in 2024.

It is a 26,000-square-metre facility capable of producing up to 16,000 units per year; following a planned expansion to 40,000 square metres, it will be capable of producing 50,000 units.

The hydrogen fuel cell bus was developed following a successful tender won from Indian Oil in June 2021.