Toyota will use fuel cell converted coaches to provide transportation to over 5,000 visitors during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. After the Games, the vehicles will complete their full use cycle.
Hydrogen coaches at Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024
Toyota to supply hydrogen fuel cell modules to replace diesel engines in long-distance coaches
24/10/2023
From the Games to the streets of Paris
Toyota, the worldwide mobility partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), will use fuel cell converted coaches to provide transportation to over 5,000 visitors as part of its guest programme during the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. After the Games, the hydrogen coaches will complete their full use cycle, providing service for public and private customers inside the Ile de France region as a legacy of Paris 2024.
A future-oriented partnership
Toyota will supply GCK – a group of industrial companies offering technological solutions to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport – will incorporate our hydrogen fuel cell modules to convert ten used coaches into zero tailpipe emission electric vehicles. The converted coaches will be purchased by B.E. Green – a French company providing carbon-neutral transportation services – who will introduce the hydrogen vehicles into its existing fleet after use at the Games. Last week the first converted coach with the Toyota fuel cell module was presented at the RNTP Transport Event in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Fuel cells to convert existing mobility
During conversion, the diesel engine and gearbox in the front of a coach are replaced with a 370kW electric motor, batteries, and a Toyota TFCM2-B fuel cell module. With this innovative approach and collaboration, Toyota has demonstrated the flexibility of its fuel cell modules, and the potential of converting traditional transport into zero tailpipe emission vehicles.
“The conversion of coaches into fuel cell electric vehicles is another important step towards achieving carbon neutrality in the transport sector. This co-operation perfectly illustrates how hydrogen applications benefit all business stakeholders and become long-term solutions. All ten fuel cell coaches will allow Toyota to transport guests during Paris 2024 with zero tailpipe emissions. We’d like to thank our partners for their combined efforts - being pioneers and accelerators of the hydrogen society, while making this possible in time for the Games”
Said Thiebault Paquet, Vice President Toyota Motor Europe
Expanding our hydrogen applications portfolio
This collaboration in the long-distance coach sector further expands Toyota’s portfolio of partnerships to provide its fuel cell technology for hydrogen solutions across diverse sectors. Fuel cell modules have been already used in trucks, buses, trains, generators, and various marine applications. This latest development will help to further accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon neutral society.
