New Flyer Industries Inc. is working with nonprofit CALSTART to develop a new zero-emission, 60-foot, battery-electric/hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty transit bus based on the company's Xcelsior X60 platform.
The bus will include a combination of batteries, a fuel cell and hydrogen storage. The electric-drive propulsion system will allow the bus' fuel cells to operate at a relative steady state, while the batteries will be able to both capture braking energy and provide power for acceleration.
New Flyer has partnered with Ballard Power Systems Inc. and Siemens on a bus that will be operated by Connecticut Transit for 22 months of in-revenue-service operations. A key step in the commercialization will be to complete a full Altoona durability and performance test as part of the U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Bus Testing Program. Upon the success of this program, New Flyer will offer this vehicle to customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
CALSTART is administering the project for the FTA.
‘Over the next decade, we expect to see a continued transition from conventional propulsion toward zero-emission technologies in the heavy-duty transit market, and this builds on our natural evolution from diesel, to hybrid, to natural gas, to electric,’ says Paul Soubry, president and CEO of New Flyer.
