The U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has mobilized $6.7 million in funding from its National Fuel Cell Bus Program to enable Ballard Power Systems and other partners to deploy two next-generation fuel cell buses and to operate a pair of existing Ballard-powered buses.
Ballard will deliver its new fuel cell power module, the FCvelocity-HD7, to BAE Systems for incorporation into its HybriDrive propulsion system, with the final bus assembly to be completed by ElDorado National.
These power modules are expected to be delivered in 2014 in support of deployments with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and the Tompkins Consolidated Transit Authority in Ithaca, N.Y. The same bus platform is currently in operation with SunLine Transit Agency in Thousand Palms, Calif.
The funding also extends the operation of a Ballard-powered bus with Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit in Birmingham, Ala., and supports the testing of an existing ElDorado bus at the National Bus Testing Facility in Altoona, Pa.
