On-Road

Hydrogen-electric fuel cell powered public transportation plays a key role when making our cities greener and more sustainable. Not only are fuel cell busses quieter and cheaper to operate than diesel busses, they also have zero emissions. The technology is already in use – helping to decrease the total societal cost in urban areas worldwide.

Core benefits of fuel cells

Our research shows several major benefits when comparing fuel cells and fossil fuels. A hydrogen-powered bus helps our cities become quieter and cleaner. Firstly, the noise level is lower compared to a diesel bus, contributing to a higher comfort level. A conventional bus emits carbon dioxide (CO2) and other pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx) whilst a hydrogen-powered bus has zero emissions. The cost for fuel is also lower for a fuel cell bus: 0.48 EUR/km compared to 0.60 EUR/km for a bus with a conventional drivetrain.

Societal benefits

Societies around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the societal costs linked to the use of fossil fuels – the emissions contain harmful components that cause health-related issues and increase healthcare costs. The noise generated by combustion engines has led to lower comfort levels for passengers and operators as well as the surrounding society. Hydrogen-powered public transportation, on the other hand, helps to decrease this societal cost. Lower noise levels and the absence of toxic emissions contributes to healthier citizens and greener cities.

Achieving commercial success in such a demanding and volume-oriented segment, however, requires more than good technology – it requires opportunities for both broad industrialization and commercialization. With regard to our PowerCell S3 fuel cell stack for the vehicle segment, PowerCell Sweden has therefore chosen to enter into a strategic partnership with Robert Bosch GmbH, one of the world’s leading suppliers to the automotive industry with development resources and manufacturing facilities in a large number of important markets. Together, we are now developing a new and improved version of the PowerCell S3 that will meet all the tough demands of the automotive industry and which at the same time will be able to mass-produce in large volumes in the most efficient way possible.

Once the new and improved version of the S3 is ready, Bosch will, for seven years, have an exclusive right to produce and sell the S3 to the vehicle segment. As PowerCell Sweden is entitled to the improvements to the stack that will be the result of our joint development, the improved version of S3 will also benefit our customers in other segments. The agreement with Bosch is a prime example of a cooperation where all parties become winners.