Commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicle adoption gets boost under Ballard and Wisdom

The companies are working to accelerate the use of the vehicles in Hong Kong.

Ballard Power Systems has announced a strategic collaboration with Wisdom Motor Company Limited to boost the adoption of commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Hong Kong. The collaboration also includes Bravo Transport Services Limited and Templewater Group.

The companies will work together to expand the use of the vehicles in Hong Kong.

Templewater is an alternative asset management firm. It is the parent company of the largest transit operator on Hong Kong, Bravo. It is joining Ballard in a co-investment of Series A funding for Wisdom. Wisdom is a tech firm that both designs and manufactures zero-emission commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The funds will provide financial support for the organizational growth at Wisdom, as well as research and development and manufacturing platforms. This includes the expansion of H2-powered bus, truck and specialty vehicle development. The collaboration is expected to close this year before the end of Q2, subject to regulatory approval completion and other customary closing conditions.

The Ballard PEM hydrogen fuel cell technology will be deployed into Wisdom vehicle product lines.

The Wisdom H2 vehicle product lines will use only the PEM tech from Ballard, with the Weichai-Ballard Joint Venture in China supplying the modules. Ballard plans to take part in a joint development agreement with Wisdom to be able to move ahead with the integration and optimization of its fuel cell electric powertrain designs and control strategies.

One component of the initial collaboration will be Ballard’s support of Wisdom as it launches a new H2 double-decker bus. That vehicle is slated for demonstration by Bravo this year as a component of its bus fleet replacement initiative in Hong Kong. The plan is to bring in zero-emission models.

There are currently 1,700 buses operated by Bravo. They travel 200 routes and carry more than 1 million passengers every day under the Citybus and new World First Bus brands. The hydrogen fuel cell vehicle’s demonstration will place the spotlight on its capabilities for taking on one of the most challenging bus operating environments in the world.