10 Dec 08
2008 Bus Survey
The fuel cell bus market is in a transitional period. In the two years since the last Fuel Cell Today bus survey was produced, there have been fewer than 15 new fuel cell buses introduced, and there are actually fewer total buses in operation worldwide, since most of the HyFleet:CUTE program’s buses have concluded demonstration service. What we are seeing now are several development pathways happening simultaneously. On the one hand, we are seeing a ramping up of bus orders at a small number of transit agencies, with single agency procurements of as many as 20 buses for delivery in the 2009 to 2010 timeframe. Fuel cell and bus companies are taking what they learned from the last several years of demonstrations to develop the next generation of fuel cell transit systems; some are pursuing these new procurements and some are waiting to introduce new product based on their own internal schedule. At the same time, governments are continuing to fund R&D projects and demonstrations to spur development and testing of new fuel cell systems and drivetrain configurations that can help fuel cell buses meet transit’s demanding performance requirements. So, there is a bit of a mixed message on the path toward commercialisation, with some parties moving to the next stage of higher volume deployments, and others continuing R&D and demonstration with small numbers of buses.
2008 Bus Survey