| AC Transit Unveils World’s Most Advanced Fuel Cell Bus
DALLAS, TX and OAKLAND, CA (Sept. 26, 2005) – AC Transit of Oakland, California, in partnership with several other American companies and public agencies, today unveiled its newest hybrid-electric, hydrogen fuel cell bus. Thousands of transit professionals gathered at the Dallas Convention Center for the American Public Transportation Association’s EXPO 2005, are expected to see and tour this latest advancement in zero-emission public transit.
“What distinguishes AC Transit's bus is that it is not merely a fuel cell bus,” said Doug Byrne, AC Transit’s Zero-Emission Bus Program Manager. “It’s a hybrid-electric fuel cell bus.”
Fuel cell buses are clean, quiet, electrically propelled vehicles that only emit water vapor from the tailpipe. The AC Transit design features a PureMotion™ 120 kW fuel cell power system built by UTC Power of Connecticut, and a hybrid-electric drive system designed and installed by ISE Corporation of California. The 120 kW UTC Power system provides very high fuel efficiency, because it combines oxygen from the air with hydrogen gas stored onboard the bus, at low, near-ambient pressure.
“Because we operate at near-ambient pressure for our fuel cell, we do not have a compressor. This greatly increases the fuel efficiency and the reliability of the system as a whole," said Jan van Dokkum, president of UTC Power. "This design also makes the bus unbelievably quiet.” The PureMotion™120 kW fuel cell power system represents the culmination of two years of research and development substantially funded by the U.S. Department of Defense through the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) and the U.S. Department of Transportation through the North American Vehicle Consortium.
On-board batteries can store as much as 53 kWhr of electrical energy and release up to 95 kW of power, enabling efficiency improvements through regenerative braking, while augmenting the 120 kW of power available from the fuel cell.
“When we integrate hybrid-electric components with fuel cell power, we get a vehicle that is quiet, fuel-efficient, and zero-emission,” said Dave Mazaika, President and CEO of ISE. “We’ve taken this bus up to 70 miles per hour on the freeway, and in our testing phase, we have achieved twice the energy efficiency of diesel.”
AC Transit engineers worked closely with UTC Power, ISE, and with bus and coach manufacturer Van Hool (Belgium) to design a glider that would accommodate this integrated hybrid system. All parties successfully achieved this fuel cell integration without compromising the features of a true low-floor transit bus: three wide entrance/egress doors, completely low-passenger floor from front to the very back of the bus, expansive windows and high ceilings, electric air-conditioning, as well as other features typical to a Bus Rapid Transit operation.
“We spent a considerable amount of engineering time to re-design the chassis and body of our A330 transit bus, in order to ensure that design and performance would not be compromised,” said Leopold Van Hool, Managing Director of Van Hool NV. “Our company, with its 4,300 employees, is one of the largest bus manufacturers in the world, and we take considerable pride in the quality of our workmanship, noted by our ‘Bus of The Year’ award that we received in 2003 and 2004 for the design and performance of the A330 bus.”
Leopold Van Hool also noted that the success of this project has been recognized internationally, with a recent decision by the Belgian government to help finance a regional fuel cell bus demonstration program for Flanders. Utilizing the same vehicle design developed by Van Hool, UTC, and ISE, for AC Transit, a demonstration bus will be built for the European market to conduct additional testing and evaluation of vehicle performance and to further advance the use of fuel cell hybrid-electric technology.
“No one of these companies could have built this bus on its own,” said Ron Cornell, President and CEO of ABC Companies, the U.S. distributor for Van Hool coaches. “AC Transit has been the driving force behind the whole endeavor.” Dane Cornell, Executive Vice President of ABC Companies added, “ABC is proud to have been in partnership with Van Hool and AC Transit during the development of this new technology for transit buses. This is an exciting time for everyone involved in this project.”
The bus on display is one of four such buses being built for the North American market and is due to enter regular service this fall. As the lead transit agency in this partnership, AC Transit will acquire three of the four buses, with SunLine Transit of Thousand Palms, California acquiring the fourth.
AC Transit and SunLine’s partnership with Van Hool/ABC, UTC Power, and ISE has resulted in a significant step toward commercialization of fuel cell technology. “This project proves that we can make alternative fuel technology work today,” said SunLine Transit Agency General Manager C. Mikel Oglesby, “Not at some vague, remote point in the future.”
“As a public transit agency, one of our goals has always been to provide the best possible service,” added Rick Fernandez, AC Transit’s General Manager. “Providing a service that doesn’t pollute our neighborhoods is the next logical step.”
AC Transit is one of the largest transit agencies in California, serving over 64 million passengers a year throughout a 360-square mile region. For nearly 45 years, AC Transit has been recognized as a national leader in the transit industry. AC Transit has captured the American Public Transit Association’s “Best of the Best” Roadeo award five out of the past six years. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) of Washington, D.C. named AC Transit a “National Clean Bus Leader” for its advanced environmental technology initiatives. Additional information about AC Transit’s environmental programs is available at www.actransit.org/environment.
United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), based in Hartford, Conn., provides high-technology products and services to the commercial building and the aerospace industries. Its UTC Power division, based in South Windsor, Conn., is a full-service provider of environmentally advanced power solutions. With more than 40 years of experience, UTC Power packages on-site power systems for commercial and industrial markets and is the leading developer and producer of fuel cells for transportation and space applications. www.utcpower.com.
ISE Corp. of San Diego, California is a leading provider of electric, hybrid-electric, and integrated fuel cell drive systems for heavy-duty vehicles such as buses, trucks, trams, airport equipment, and military vehicles. ISE is the preferred U.S. distributor for Siemens ELFA electric and hybrid-electric drive components. www.isecorp.com
ABC Companies has been in the motorcoach business for over 30 years and is one of the largest privately held companies in the state of Minnesota. ABC Companies is also the exclusive distributor of Van Hool coaches in the U.S. A leader in the sales and leasing of new and pre-owned highway coaches, ABC Companies provides equipment for shuttle, transit, line haul, or tour operations. ABC Service provides routine mechanical service, major repairs, and a parts inventory at each of five full service facilities. Financing and leasing options are available from ABC Financial Services, one of the largest financial service providers in the motorcoach industry. www.abc-companies.com
Van Hool is located in Lier, Belgium (approximately 20 miles northwest of Brussels), with a work force of 4,300 employees. Van Hool’s principal business activity is the manufacturing of luxury over-the-road coaches, urban transport buses, and heavy-duty truck trailers. The company – a family owned business – was founded in 1947, and has a reputation in the transportation industry for designing and building high quality, state-of-the-art, tailor-made products. Van Hool manufactures approximately 1,600 buses and coaches and as many as 4,000 trailers annually, of which approximately 80% are exported worldwide to over 80 countries. Van Hool entered into an exclusive U.S. distribution agreement for coaches with ABC Companies in 1987, and through this relationship, Van Hool luxury motor coaches have become the most popular European design in the United States and Canada, with close to 6,000 coaches sold to date. In two years Van Hool has increased its presence in the North American Public Transport sector with more than 353 vehicles sold to Transit Authorities such as AC Transit (Oakland, CA), WMATA (Washington, DC), MWAA (Washington, DC), RTL (Montreal) and York Rapid Transit (York, Ontario). www.vanhool.be
Formed in 1977 and based in Thousand Palms, California, SunLine Transit Agency has emerged as one of the nation’s leaders in embracing and promoting the use of clean-fuel for public transit. From 2000 to the present, SunLine has demonstrated three versions of heavy-duty hydrogen hybrid fuel cell buses with great success. In April 2000, SunLine launched its hydrogen generation facility, a first for a public transit agency. The facility has produced hydrogen by reforming natural gas and converting solar and wind energy through electrolysis. The agency maintains and operates a fleet of 47 buses and 23 para-transit vehicles, logging some four million miles each year in the Coachella Valley. www.sunline.org |
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