AFV Truck/Commercial Vehicle and (non-BEV) Bus thread

[GRA]

Via GCC:

Navigant Research forecasts battery-electric to be leading type of electric powertrain for buses through 2026

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10 ... igant.html

In a new report, “Medium and Heavy Duty Buses with Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid, Battery Electric, and Fuel Cell Powertrains: Global Market Analysis and Forecasts”, Navigant Research forecasts that the battery EV (BEV) will be the leading type of electric powertrain for buses through 2026. According to Navigant Research, the total global market for electric drive buses is expected to grow from about 119,141 buses in 2016 to 181,055 in 2026.

Navigant anticipates that hybrid drive will grow steadily, while fuel cells will begin to enter volume production by the end of 2026. Plug-in hybrid drive is expected to grow for the rest of the current decade and then see sales begin to drop off.

Direct Link to the report: https://www.navigantresearch.com/resear ... rive-buses

[GRA]

Via GCC:

Toyota to start sales of fuel cell buses under the Toyota brand from early 2017

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10 ... fcbus.html

. . . After repeated field tests of the hydrogen-powered buses for practical use, the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to utilize two of the Toyota FC Buses as fixed-route buses.

Toyota plans to introduce more than 100 FC buses mainly in the Tokyo area, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In view of this, the FC buses will be sold for the first time in Japan in early 2017, so as to help increase the level of understanding by the general public of the utilization of FC buses as a form of public transportation. . . .

The bus also can function as a high-capacity external power supply system. With a power supply capable of a 9 kW maximum output, and a large capacity of electricity supply at 235 kWh, the FC bus can be used as a power source in the event of disasters, such as at evacuation sites such as in school gymnasiums or for home electric appliance use. . . .

There's a spec sheet.

[GRA]

Via GCC:

Flint MTA testing Proterra hydrogen fuel cell bus prototype for one year

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10 ... ntmta.html

. . . Part of the study will be to see how the bus tests in a cold environment as it has only been run in warmer climates. . . .

Top speed of the bus is 55 mph. With the on-board batteries and hydrogen fuel cell stack, the bus has a range of 280 miles; the range using the battery only is 30 miles.

The bus will be tested on different routes in the city of Flint. Part of the study includes checking the vehicle’s fuel consumption.

[RegGuheert]

Via GCC:

Flint MTA testing Proterra hydrogen fuel cell bus prototype for one year

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10 ... ntmta.html

Another natural-gas-fueled vehicle hits the road, but at signficantly higher cost and damage to the environment. From the press release:

The hydrogen fuel used is produced through steam reforming natural gas.

Interestingly, I do not see any mention of this effort from Proterra. They only mention BEV buses on their website AFAICT. All of their BEV buses offer a top speed of 65 MPH and two of the 40-foot versions offer a longer range than this fuel-cell vehicle. Also, one 35-foot as well as one 40-foot bus offer 251 miles of range.

[GRA]

It's an interesting question whether this bus, using NG reformed via SMR, or the BEV buses in Louisville, using 87% coal-generated electricity, are dirtier. Neither makes much sense IMO - an HEV bus would seem to be cleaner. Still, this is primarily a cold-weather test of a single FCEV bus so it's no big deal that they're using H2 from SMR, unlike the Louisville fleet which will be running off coal-fired electricity for over a decade and probably a lot longer than that, as long as Senator "Coal is good for you. Here, eat some!" McConnell is representing them. It would be most useful if Flint ran an FCEV and a BEV bus side by side.

[GRA]

Via GCC:

Wrightspeed and the Ratto Group introduce range-extended electric refuse truck; 15 trucks over next 12 months

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/11 ... speed.html

Wrightspeed, the leading manufacturer of range-extended electric vehicle (REV) powertrains for heavy-duty applications, and The Ratto Group, a Santa Rosa, California-based refuse, yard waste and recycling collection and processing company, unveiled the first commercial application of a range-extended electric refuse truck. Ratto and Wrightspeed will roll out 15 Route-equipped trucks—retrofits of trucks in Ratto’s fleet—over the next 12 months to meet community needs.

With the support of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, communities in Sonoma and surrounding counties will be serviced by a fleet of clean, quiet trucks from The Ratto Group, powered by Wrightspeed’s range-extended powertrain, The Route. . . .

The Wrightspeed Route is a Range-extended Electric Vehicle (REV) powertrain designed for original or retrofit applications that can be customized to fit a variety of heavy-duty platforms, replacing the engine, the transmission and the differential systems. The Route electric powertrain drives more low-end torque to the wheels than conventional diesel engines, with less fuel, less emissions, and less noise. The on-board microturbine generator, the Fulcrum, is fuel-agnostic.

The Wrightspeed range-extended electric powertrain is optimized for heavy-duty frequent-stop drive cycles. Wrightspeed designed its own motor, motor controller, clutchless transmission, and vehicle dynamics software (the Wrightspeed GTD drive system), as well as the Fulcrum.

The Wrightspeed GTD features a four-speed clutchless gearbox using software controls in place of heavy and complex traditional transmission components, saving on weight while delivering an exceptional range of power and speed. . . .

[GRA]

Via ABG:

Nikola One hydrogen-powered semi is tall, different and zero-emission

http://www.autoblog.com/2016/12/01/niko ... o-emisson/

. . . Lower costs: Milton said that the weight of the Nikola One, when compared to a traditional diesel rig, will be about 2,000 pounds lighter. If you take weight out of the cab, you can add it onto the payload, which means you can move more goods, and more goods means more money. Plus, included in the purchase or lease price (and the lease could be $5,000-$7,000 a month, for 72 months, according to the Nikola website), is a million miles of free hydrogen. Drivers will be able to fill up at a to-be-built network of 364 planned Nikola stations that will be scattered across the US and southern Canada. Milton did not describe this next part in any detail, but did say that the vertically integrated Nikola will make the hydrogen, liquefy it, and truck it to the stations. One possible method would be to use solar energy to electrolyze water and get the H2 that way, but we don't know for sure yet. . . .

Big plans. We'll see how much if any of it comes to pass.

[GRA]

Via GCC:

London to phase out diesel buses; all new single deckers for central London to be zero emission

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/12 ... 3-zeb.html

. . . No more pure diesel double-deck buses will be added to the capital’s fleet from 2018 and all new single-decks for central London will be zero-emission. The Mayor made the announcement along with unveiling the first double-decker hydrogen bus, manufactured by the Wrights Group.

London has committed to procuring roughly 300 zero emission buses by 2020, with 51 battery electric buses recently going into service on the 507/521 route, taking the number of completely electric bus routes to three, with 79 zero emission buses in total in the fleet.

At least 20 new hydrogen buses will be delivered to London as part of a £10-million (US$12.6 million) part-EU funded project supporting hydrogen technology, with TfL providing at least £5 million in funding. . . .

The Mayor made the announcement at the International Zero Emission Bus Conference and Fuel Cell Bus Workshop (IFCBW) at London City Hall, held 30 November and 1 December and hosted by Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE). . . .

At the IFCBW event, Jack Kitowski, the Mobile Source Division Chief of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), said that recent awards of more than $70 million in Low Carbon Transportation grant funding will go to build 25 fuel cell electric buses and 70 battery electric buses along with supporting infrastructure for 10 transit agencies throughout California.

[GRA]

via GCC:

Ballard-powered fuel cell electric buses exceed 10M km of revenue service

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/01 ... llard.html

Today Ballard FCveloCity engines are powering more than 80 buses around the globe: 41 in Europe, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and the U.K.; 24 in the Cities of Foshan and Yunfu, China; 13 in the US, including the states of California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Ohio; 3 in Brazil; and 1 in India.

Ballard is seeing increased market demand for FCveloCity fuel cell engines of various sizes for use in a number of different vehicle types, including:

Ongoing shipments to fulfill additional requirements of partner Guangdong Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co., Ltd. for more than 300 buses in Foshan and Yunfu, China (earlier post);

Fuel cell orders from strategic partner Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd. to power 10,000 commercial vehicles that will be deployed in its China vehicle leasing business, thereby creating significant demand pull-through for Ballard technology (earlier post);

Ballard’s ongoing development programs for 200 kilowatt (kW) engines to power urban light rail vehicles for China’s CRRC Corporation Ltd., the world’s largest train manufacturer (earlier post);

A recent purchase order from OEM Solaris Bus & Coach for engines to power buses for deployment in Riga, Latvia (earlier post);

Bidding for more than 100 fuel cell buses under Europe's Horizon 2020 funded program; and

Bidding on fuel cell bus programs funded by the US Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under the Low and No Emission (LoNo) Vehicle Deployment Program (earlier post). . . .

[GRA]

Via GCC:

Plug Power ships first production fuel cell Progen systems for EV range extenders for FedEx Freight

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/02 ... power.html

. . . Plug Power is developing this technology through a $3-million grant from the Department of Energy with FedEx. The first deliveries of production ProGen engines will function as range extenders in electric FedEx Freight delivery vans in the greater Los Angeles area, doubling the vehicles’ range.

ProGen shipments for delivery vans in the China market will begin in the second quarter of 2017. . . .