2015年中，第一台氫燃料電池混和動力的60英尺雙節公車，將在北美首度上路。
大眾運輸以零污染為目標
擁有150個企業會員的美國非營利乾淨運輸協會CALSTART，14日宣布已經獲聯邦運輸管理局（FTA）核准開發零排放電力巴士。CALSTART為FTA管理國家燃料電池巴士計畫，目標是改善重型運輸巴士的續航力並降低成本，進而實現零污染大眾運輸。
「60英呎巴士在人口最稠密的地區服務，而人口最稠密的地區空氣品質也最重要。只有透過技術進步才能實現大型巴士零排放。」CALSTART總裁兼執行長John Boesel說。
新巴士預計將在明年中完成，送到賓州阿爾圖納依照FTA國家燃料電池巴士計畫標準測試和驗收。完成完整續航力和效能測試，是商業運作的重要前置步驟。
接著新巴士將在康乃狄克交通系統（CTTransit）進行為期22個月的付費試營運，服務大哈特福和周邊地區。康乃迪克州哈特福最終將主持新英格蘭的第一個零排放燃料電池巴士車隊。
使用特殊混和燃料電池 已計畫量產
電動巴士推進系統包含電池、新一代氫燃料電池和儲氫裝置，其中氫燃料電池可以在相對穩定狀態下運作，電池則能捕獲煞車能量並提供加速的動力。
CALSTART說，雖然巴士製造商和燃料電池供應商是加拿大廠商，電動動力系統製造商是德國廠商，燃料電池混和巴士將符合FTA的採購要求。
巴士製造商New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg、燃料電池供應商Ballard電力系統以及電力系統製造商西門子正在合作製造、測試和運送巴士。
New Flyer將運用特殊混和燃料電池打造新巴士，並計劃量產。Ballard的FCvelocity-HD7燃料電池電力模組相較於目前的燃料電池成本較低、體積較小也較輕。
Ballard說，新的電池模組配備整合空氣壓縮機和冷卻劑泵，移動元件術和總元件數都較少。FCvelocity-HD7的燃料電池組是以Ballard的高容量製程技術製造。
A 60-foot-long articulated bus scheduled for roll-out in mid-2015 will be the first in North America to be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell/battery combination electric drive.
CALSTART, a U.S. nonprofit clean transport consortium of 150 member companies, Monday announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to develop the zero emission electric bus.
The propulsion system will include a combination of batteries, a next-generation hydrogen fuel cell, and hydrogen storage. The electric drive bus will allow the fuel cell to operate at a relative steady-state, while the batteries will be able to capture braking energy and provide power for acceleration.
The project aims to improve durability and lower costs of heavy-duty transit buses, to approach the goal of pollution-free mass transit.
“Sixty-foot buses serve the most densely populated corridors where air quality is very important. It is only through technology advancement that we are now able to envision buses of this size operating without emissions,” said CALSTART President and CEO John Boesel.
CALSTART is managing the project for the Federal Transit Administration. Funding came in part from the FTA’s National Fuel Cell Bus Program.
CALSTART says the fuel cell/battery bus will meet the Federal Transit Administration’s Buy-America requirements although the bus manufacturer and the fuel cell supplier are both Canadian, and the electric powertrain manufacturer is German.
New Flyer Industries of Winnipeg, Manitoba is teaming with the fuel cell supplier, Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Siemens, the electric powertrain manufacturer, to build, test and deliver the bus.
New Flyer will build the bus using a unique combination of a fuel cell and batteries. New Flyer plans to put the bus into commercial production.
Ballard’s FCvelocity-HD7 fuel cell power module is lower in cost, smaller and lighter than existing models.
With its integrated air compressor and coolant pump, Ballard says the new power module has fewer moving parts and fewer parts overall. The FCvelocity-HD7 features fuel cell stacks manufactured using Ballard’s high-volume manufacturing processes.
Scheduled for completion in the middle of next year, the new battery/fuel cell bus will be sent to Altoona, Pennsylvania for testing and qualification under the U.S. Federal Transit Administration’s National Fuel Cell Bus Program.
A key step in the commercialization of the bus will be to complete a full Altoona Durability and Performance test.
Then the bus will be deployed to Connecticut Transit (CTTransit) for 22 months of in-revenue service operations in and around the greater Hartford area. Hartford, Connecticut eventually will host New England’s first zero-emission fuel cell hybrid bus fleet.
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
