CaetanoBus launches first H2 bus with Toyota FC technology

Range up to 400km, H2 refuelling in under 9 minutes
18/10/2019
Toyota today announced that it has delivered and integrated its first fuel cell stack into the new city bus by CaetanoBus SA, the H2.City Gold, which was presented in a world premiere at Busworld³ 2019 in Brussels. This marks the first concrete step of a collaboration announced in September 2018 by Toyota’s European subsidiary, Toyota Motor Europe, and CaetanoBus SA, a major Portuguese bus engineering and production company, to build hydrogen fuel cell city buses.

Another step towards a hydrogen society

Working since 2018, the teams at TME and CaetanoBus were able to develop the new hydrogen fuel cell bus, another step towards a hydrogen society, thanks to the strong effort and technical capability of the engineers while demonstrating the good adaptability of Toyota’s fuel cell technology beyond the Mirai passenger car. 

The stack is located on the bus’s roof and is coupled to 5 hydrogen tanks with a total capacity of 37.5 kg, giving the bus a range of up to 400km. It can be refuelled with hydrogen pressurised at 350 bar in under 9 minutes, and its only emissions are water vapour.

 

"Thanks to their longstanding relationship with Toyota, their understanding of market requirements and their technical capabilities, CaetanoBus was the ideal partner to start the development of our powertrain sales activities in Europe. I look forward to receiving the first market feedback from this initiative and the expansion of our supply business of hydrogen fuel cell technology.”
Dr Johan van Zyl, TME President and CEO

Beyond passenger cars

This gives city bus operators a zero-emission solution without compromise in operation due to charging time or high load conditions. The trial bus will be operated in various European cities over the next months, before commercialisation mid 2020. In line with its vision of a decarbonised society – as stated in its 2050 environmental challenge, Toyota is promoting the application of its hydrogen fuel cell technology beyond passenger cars, including heavy duty trucks, small delivery trucks, forklifts and buses.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Toyota. Successfully expanding our partnership to fuel cells for our new city bus in Europe allows us both to demonstrate complementary technology and engineering capability that is world class. This project will enable cities to rethink their future mobility and enhance quality of life.”
Mr. José Ramos, President of Salvador Caetano Indústria
1 Depending on driving cycle, AC and heating requirements² According to SAE J2601-2 & SAE J2799 (IR)³ Busworld, the oldest and most famous bus and coach only exhibition in the world, celebrates its 25th edition at a new venue at Brussels Expo. The new CaetanoBus H2.Citygold bus can be seen at the CaetanoBus in booth 903A.

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