BAE Systems to Develop Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus for SunLine Transit
BAE Systems will develop a new hydrogen fuel cell bus for a Southern California regional transit agency under a project to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of fuel cell technology. Under a planned work effort, the company will serve as systems integrator to deliver the vehicle to SunLine Transit in an effort funded by the Federal Transit Administration, CALSTART, California Air Resource Board, and California South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The bus developed under the National Fuel Cell Bus Program will use an FCvelocity-HD6 fuel cell power module supplied by Ballard Power Systems, combined with BAE Systems series hybrid electric drive and power management systems to propel a 40-foot transit bus. The bus is scheduled for delivery in December 2011.
This new-generation fuel cell bus is the result of a true partnership with SunLine Transit Agency, CALSTART, bus manufacturer ElDorado National (California) Inc., Ballard Power Systems, and the Federal Transit Administration, and continues BAE Systems’ ongoing development of environmentally friendly, heavy-duty vehicles. We look forward to furthering our work as a systems integrator and showcasing the evolution in technology from partial to zero emissions.
—Rich Hopf, general manager of vehicle systems for BAE Systems
The new vehicle is based on BAE Systems’ HybriDrive series hybrid propulsion system, used by transit agencies across the US, Canada and in the UK. The non-fuel cell HybriDrive system uses a diesel engine couple to a generator.
In addition to the hydrogen fuel cell supplanting the diesel genset, the demonstration vehicle will use an advanced lithium-ion-based energy storage system that increases battery life and substantially reduces vehicle weight. The battery system, which will augment the fuel cell, is self-monitoring for easy service and reduced maintenance costs.
HybriDrive propulsion technology has been in daily revenue service on buses in New York and other cities since 1998; more than 2,500 buses use HybriDrive technology to carry more than a million passengers daily. To date, these buses have traveled more than 150 million miles.
SunLine has been working with alternative fuel buses since 1994, when it converted its entire fleet to CNG. In 2005, the agency put its first fuel cell bus into service. Earlier this year, SunLine introduced its 6th-generation hydrogen fuel cell bus, a 40-foot, low-floor New Flyer model. Among the features of the advanced technology bus are a smaller and lighter
fuel cell power plant—also a FCvelocity-HD6 unit from Ballard; lighter hydrogen storage tanks; a smaller fuel cell thermal management system; new and improved high voltage battery technology, as well as the latest in diagnostic tools and data collection.
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