NORTH AMERICA:

AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit Agency)

In 1999, AC Transit, a public transit agency based in Oakland, California, tested the XCELLSIS ZEbus, a prototype 40-foot, standard-size bus. The agency deemed the demonstration a success, with the bus able to handle the District's hilly bus routes, achieve smooth acceleration and accommodate heavy passenger loads. According to AC Transit, the Zebus delivered power equivalent to the 275 horsepower diesel buses used by the agency.

Courtesy Ballard Power Systems

Ballard Power Systems

The first real demonstration vehicle using modern fuel cell technology was a 32-foot bus rolled out in 1993 by Ballard Power Systems. Since then, Ballard has worked with a number of transit agencies in North America to conduct fuel cell bus demonstrations. The following is a list of bus demonstrations using Ballard fuel cell systems:

Chicago Transit and Vancouver:

Between 1999 and 2001, six buses powered by Ballard fuel cell engines operated in revenue service with the Chicago Transit Authority and in British Columbia's TransLink in Vancouver, Canada. The six buses traveled more than 73,000 miles and carried in excess of 200,000 passengers.

According to Ballard, information and experience gained during the project proved vital in developing their next generation engine which weighs 50% less than the previous generation.

Courtesy Ballard Power Systems

Courtesy Ballard Power Systems

SunLine Transit:

In 2000, Ballard Power Systems and XCELLSIS Fuel Cell Engines shipped the first bus powered by the pre-commercial fuel cell engine to the Sullen Transit Agency in Palm Springs, CA. For details, see the SunLine entry on page two.

Georgetown University:

Ballard also participated in the Georgetown University fuel cell bus program, which is detailed below.

Georgetown University

Georgetown University has been working on fuel cell bus research, development and demonstration for almost 20 years. Their program has been funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and has seen the development and demonstration of three generations of buses.

Generation I: In the 1990's, after several years of examining the best technology for urban fuel cell bus development, Georgetown awarded contracts to develop three prototype fuel cell hybrid-electric 30-foot buses, fuelled with methanol. These so-called Test Bed Buses (TBBs) were rolled out in 1995. Each TBB used a 50 kW phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) as the main energy source, supplied by Fuji Electric.

Courtesy Georgetown University

Generation II: The Georgetown University Generation II Bus Program comprised two fuel cell buses. Both are 40-foot heavy duty transit buses, based on the RTS wide front door platform by NovaBUS. The propulsion system on each bus is hybrid electric: a battery pack in combination with a 100 kW fuel cell (a phosphoric acid fuel cell in the UTC Fuel Cells Bus and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell in the XCELLSiS X1 Bus).

According to Georgetown, these buses represented a significant leap ahead of the Generation I buses for a number of reasons:

• Improved Fuel Cell Power Density: The fuel cells in the Generation II buses produced twice the power of the Generation I systems (100 kW versus 50 kW), but the power plants weighed approximately the same (approximately 4000 pounds).
• More Responsive Fuel Cells: The fuel cells in the Generation II buses could respond to the driver's power demand about 100 times faster (approximately 20 kW/sec) than the Generation I buses.
• Improved Life Expectancy: Georgetown anticipated that the newer fuel cells will have a life expectancy of 25,000 hours (about five years of transit bus operation).

Courtesy Georgetown University

Courtesy Georgetown University

Generation III:

Georgetown is planning the next generation of its fuel cell buses. The new generation would use PEM fuel cell technology and would not use on-board reformation of methanol. For more information, see Planned Deployments.

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