Wrightbus has shared more detail on the pathway of its hydrogen fuel cell-electric coach development programme after a driveline demonstrator was displayed at the Cenex show in Bedfordshire.
The coach driveline is fitted to a GB Kite Hydroliner hydrogen fuel cell-electric single-decker bus, with a Wrightbus spokesperson telling routeone that such a step has been taken to allow creation of a coach-specific configuration to progress.
Work on development of the hydrogen coach is expected to complete in 2025 with a vehicle on the road in 2026, the spokesperson advises. They add that while “iterative” work on the fuel cell driveline has already been done, configuration and integration to suit a coach application continues.
The coach work is being part-funded by an Advanced Propulsion Centre grant awarded to Wrightbus as part of a scheme targeting ‘fast start’ projects. Queens University Belfast and hydrogen mobility specialist Symbio are also involved in the project.
Wrightbus describes debut of the coach driveline demonstrator as “a significant step forward in the road to decarbonising the public transport industry.”
While CEO Jean-Marc Gales said previously that the Ballymena manufacturer was still considering whether to fully build up a hydrogen coach or focus only on the driveline, the spokesperson’s more recent words confirm that a complete vehicle will follow.
Mr Gales adds: “There is no room for standing still. Innovation has been at the core of our business since we were founded in 1946, and we continue to plough enormous amounts of time, money and effort into staying ahead of the curve.
“While buses have been in the Wrightbus DNA since day one, we know that to have a real impact on public transport we must tackle the decarbonisation of coaches. Yet they have different needs – they must go further for longer and carry much higher payloads.
“Although the demonstrator on show at Cenex is not the finished article, we have worked heavily on creating a new driveline and our testing shows that it can cover 1,000km on one refuelling.”
