Skip to main content

5,000-hour durability milestone for transit bus fuel cell system

UTC Power, a United Technologies Corporation company, has announced one of its latest generation PureMotion Model 120 fuel cell powerplants for hybrid-electric transit buses has surpassed 5,000 operating hours in real-world service with its original cell stacks and no cell replacements.
February 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min

271 UTC Power, a 2064 United Technologies Corporation company, has announced one of its latest generation PureMotion Model 120 fuel cell powerplants for hybrid-electric transit buses has surpassed 5,000 operating hours in real-world service with its original cell stacks and no cell replacements. This powerplant is aboard an Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) bus operating in the Greater Oakland, California area.

274 AC Transit interim general manager Mary King commented, "This is an important milestone for our programme that shows the steady progress of fuel cell technology and its potential value to urban transit fleets."

Three of AC Transit's buses are equipped with UTC Power fuel cell systems and have now travelled over 340,000kms, with an average fuel economy that is 65 per cent better than the control fleet of diesel buses running the same routes and duty cycles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Horiba urges electric retrofits for bus fleets
    November 4, 2019
    Horiba Mira is urging bus manufacturers and operators to consider converting existing buses with electric powertrain technology to help the UK achieve a cleaner public transportation network. Horiba’s global electrification services leader Greg Harris says: “While the onus to date has mainly been on bringing new electrical buses to market, not to be overlooked is the major role retrofitting existing buses to e-buses can play in the UK’s all-electric bus towns pilot, and in meeting the EU’s clean vehicles d
  • Moxa provides clear vision for Caldecott Tunnel’s Fourth Bore
    September 15, 2014
    Caldecott Tunnel’s new Fourth Bore is utilising a bespoke high-capacity monitoring and communications network from Moxa. The Caldecott Tunnel connects Contra Costa and Alameda counties in Northern California and traditionally it has suffered severe congestion - especially during peak hours. Opened in 1937 as a twin-bore arrangement, by 1964 the increase in traffic volumes led to a third bore being added. Shortly after the third bore was opened a tidal flow was introduced with the centre bore alternating in
  • Alternative fuel and hybrid vehicle ‘to grow at 12.9 per cent to 2022’
    October 21, 2016
    A new report published by Allied Market Research, Alternative Fuel and Hybrid Vehicle (AFHV) Market by Alternative Fuel Type, Vehicle Type, and Geography: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022, projects that the world AFHV market is expected to reach US$614 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 12.9 per cent during the forecast period. The passenger vehicle segment is estimated to dominate the market from 2016 to 2022. Asia-Pacific dominated the global market accounting for a market s
  • Dutch survey shows drivers are in favour of road user charging
    January 16, 2012
    'Keep it simple, stupid' is an oft-forgotten axiom but in terms of road user charging it is entirely appropriate. So says the ANWB's Ferry Smith. A couple of decades ago, it might have been largely true that the technology aspects of advanced road infrastructure were the main obstacles to deployment. However, 20 years or more of development have led to a situation where such 'obstacles' are often no more than a political fig-leaf. Area-wide Road User Charging (RUC) is a case in point; speak candidly to syst