SunLine Transit Agency (Palm Springs, CA) unveiled its new commercial fuel-cell-powered bus, which features a hybrid-electric drive system with a PureMotion™ 120 kW fuel cell power system built by UTC Power (South Windsor, CT), a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (Hartford, CT). An advantage of the PureMotion technology is its ability to combine pure hydrogen stored aboard the bus with oxygen drawn from the air at near-ambient pressure to produce efficient power. The PureMotion 120 kW fuel cell power system also produces zero emissions.
"With buses and heavy commercial vehicles producing more than 60 percent of the US automotive industry's nitrogen-oxide emissions, while representing just six percent of the nation's vehicles, cleaner bus fleets need to be a national priority," said UTC Power President Jan van Dokkum. "This fuel-cell-powered bus is twice as efficient as a diesel-powered vehicle with water as the only emission."
The PureMotion 120 kW fuel cell power system represents more than four years of research and development in partnership with the US Department of Defense through the US Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) and the US Department of Transportation through the Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium. The 40 ft Van Hool Hydrogen A330 bus can reach 65 mph and travel 250 miles to 300 miles before refueling. Four fuel-cell-powered A330s will be in service in the North American market within a year.
