Daimler unveils new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid bus

Daimler has unveiled its new Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid city bus this week at the International Association of Public Transport  (UITP) World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition in Vienna.

Daimler has reported taht the fuel cell hybrid bus is the first vehicle in Daimler Buses' new generation of fuel cell buses. It combines the advantages of the diesel-electric Citaro G BlueTec Hybrid, which was unveiled a few months ago, with those of the hydrogen-powered Citaro fuel cell buses.

The Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid was developed within the framework of Daimler’s global commercial vehicle initiative “Shaping Future Transportation.” The initiative is to be aimed at using clean, efficient drive systems and alternative fuels to make zero-emission commercial vehicles a reality in the future. The Shaping Future Transportation initiative calls for sparing use of resources and reductions of all kinds of emissions while at the same time guaranteeing maximum traffic safety.

The fuel cell systems used are said to be identical with those installed in the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL passenger car, for which small-scale production will begin later this year. Several components were also borrowed from the B-Class F-CELL, with developers mutually benefiting from their respective test results.

Daimler Buses will produce a small batch of about 30 vehicles of this new generation of fuel cell buses and offer them to European mass transit companies. Beginning in fall, Daimler Buses will be conducting extensive, large-scale testing of the Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCell Hybrid bus in a number of European cities. This test series will proceed along the lines of the successful CUTE fleet test conducted by the European Union between 2003 und 2006. Since 2003, a total of 36 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses equipped with fuel cell drives have displayed top performance for 12 public transport agencies on three continents as part of the CUTE test and other related testing programs. During approximately 135,000 hours of operation the buses were driven a combined total of more than two million kilometers, and the environmentally friendly fuel cell drive system impressively demonstrated its ability to function properly under everyday operating conditions.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2009/05/citaro-fcb-hybrid-20090509.html

Source: Fuel Cell Today