Canadian Company Hydrogenics Receives German Order for Fuel Cell Buses
The Mississauga, Ontario based Hydrogenics Corporation, a leading designer and manufacturer of hydrogen and fuel cell systems, announced today that it has received a $460,000 US order for a Fuel Cell Hybrid MidiBus from Rheinbahn Rheinische Bahngesellschaft AG, the public transit authority of the greater metropolitan Dusseldorf area in Germany.
The hybrid design will allow the Midibus to travel 200 km on one tank of hydrogen, compared with only 60 to 80 km if powered by lead-acid batteries alone.
The Fuel Cell Hybrid MidiBus is intended to be used over a 5 year period and is ideal for a range of niche transit applications, primarily in urban centers. The fuel cell hybrid design overcomes the main shortcomings of battery power as batteries must be exchanged normally twice per daily cycle, along with the associated operational “down-time” to do so, give off emissions during recharging, and must replaced every three to five years requiring special disposal and recycling procedures due to the toxic content.