Ballard to deliver new hydrogen fuel system for next generation clean bus
July 30, 2014New fuel cell system to be supplied to New Flyer Industries
Ballard Power Systems, a leading developer of hydrogen fuel cells, has been named as the supplier of new energy systems that will power heavy-duty transportation buses built by New Flyer Industries. These buses will make use of the FCvelocity-HD7 fuel cells that are being developed by Ballard. This fuel cell is modular, allowing it to be customized to suit the needs of various applications. Modular fuel cells are quickly becoming popular in public transportation because of their flexible nature.
Fuel cells are becoming more common in public transit
Public transportation has become an active scene in the fuel cell market. Governments are beginning to use fuel cells to power buses that transport thousands of people every day. Conventional vehicles are responsible for a considerable amount of carbon emissions, but these emissions will begin to disappear as more of these vehicles are equipped with hydrogen fuel cells.
Bus will begin testing in Georgia later in the year, hoping to win the support of a federal program
Ballard’s new hydrogen fuel cell system will be used in New Flyer Industries’ next generation bus, which will be operating in Altoona, Georgia, for testing. The bus will attempt to qualify for the Federal Transit Administration’s National Fuel Cell Bus Program. This program has been pushing for the adoption of fuel cells in public transit for some time, supporting innovative vehicles that make use of this clean technology.
New energy system is more user friendly than previous fuel cell systems coming from Ballard
Ballard’s new energy systems can be installed more easily than its previous fuel cells. This will make using the fuel cells somewhat less problematic and more attractive. The energy system does not sacrifice energy production for this ease-of-use, of course, and will be able to meet the needs of New Flyer Industries’ bus without much difficulty. The company is expected to deliver its new hydrogen fuel system to New Flyer Industries later in the year. Much of the development that went into this energy system was focused on ensure that it is user friendly.
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In addition to the economic benefits of the Ballard and New Flyer collaboration, there are public relations benefits to putting hydrogen fuel cell buses on the road. The public sees clean transportation operating safely which plants the seed thought about their future ownership of hydrogen fuel cell powered cars and distributed power generation. As the FCEVs appear in greater numbers, the fueling station infrastructure will rapidly grow to meet the demand. It’s all good!