Wrightbus has been confirmed under as the sole supplier to the UK for double-decker fuel-cell electric buses, and one of two suppliers – the other is yet to be revealed – for single-deckers, as part of the JIVE project.
The appointment of Wrightbus under the framework agreement, lead by Transport for London (TfL), ensures that all suppliers only have one procurement architecture, rather than facing each region ‘doing its own thing’.
The announcement of the framework appointment came as Wrightbus’s StreetDeck Fuel Cell Electric bus was displayed at the Cenex-LCV low carbon vehicle show at Millbrook, Bedfordshire.
The bus was exclusively demonstrated to routeone nine months ago, when the framework bidding process was underway [routeone/10 January]
It had just returned from a fortnight of what are described as “highly-successful” in-service trials in Aberdeen, which currently runs a fleet of Van Hool single-deck fuel cell electrics, operated by First and Stagecoach. It is currently the only UK city, other than London, to run fuel cell buses.
The EU’s JIVE project – a ‘green bus fund’ for fuel cells – aims to make the capital cost commercially acceptable, thanks to ‘pump-priming’ cash.
In the UK, Aberdeen, Birmingham and London are part of the JIVE project and all will require double-deckers.
The next stage will be for the cities involved to place vehicle orders, and delivery of 50 buses, spread across the three cities, is expected next year.
The StreetDeck Fuel Cell electric, as it has now been named, has a confirmed 200-mile range, and this can be extended to 260 miles – all in full zero-emission mode – with a full payload.
The fuel cell, powered by hydrogen, generates electricity. The only tailpipe emission is water vapour.
The saloon heating is electric, using a conventional wet system. Waste heat from the water-cooled fuel cell is boosted using a heat pump to maintain a comfortable saloon temperature.
The London-specification upper-deck air-chill system can also be fitted, as this is an electric system.
The EU’s Joint Initiative for hydrogen Vehicles across Europe (JIVE) project is funding €32m to deploy at least 139 buses, in a six-year project in nine cities.
JIVE2, under development, will add another 125 buses.
A previous EU fund delivered 56 buses from six OEMs in 10 cities. By 2020 there will be around 400 hydrogen buses in service.
