Stuttgart / Hamburg, 16th November 2009 – The new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid made its first appearance in its future operating location of Hamburg today. The exceptional feature of this latest-generation fuel cell hybrid bus is its outstanding environmental compatibility. The bus emits absolutely no pollutants while in motion, and it’s also virtually silent, making it ideal for use in highly congested inner cities and metropolitan areas. Beginning next year, no less than ten of the 30 vehicles that Daimler Buses is producing for European transport operators are destined for the Hamburg transport authority. In addition, Hamburger Hochbahn will take delivery of 20 Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL cars starting 2010, which are also equipped with a fuel cell drive system.

The Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid is taking part in large-scale fleet trials which are due to take place in Hamburg and other European cities. This is a follow-up to the European Union’s successful CUTE and HyFLEET:CUTE projects, which were carried out from 2003 to 2009. In the HyFLEET:CUTE project, a total of 36 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses equipped with the second-generation fuel cell drive system have performed outstandingly for 12 public transport agencies on three continents, among them Hamburger Hochbahn AG. In more than 140,000 hours of operation, during which they covered a total of more than 2.2 million kilometers (1.37 million miles,) these environmentally compatible Mercedes-Benz buses have impressively demonstrated their ability to function reliably under operating conditions.

Intelligent use of synergies in the passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors

“The new Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid clearly demonstrates that electric mobility is already feasible today also with commercial vehicles”, says Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses. “Besides, synergy potentials with our Mercedes-Benz passenger car development and Daimler research can be optimally used in particular with the fuel cell drive system.”

For the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid and the B-Class F-CELL, Mercedes-Benz successfully follows the cost-effective principle of using common parts. Components such as fuel cell stacks can be used as modules for both cars and commercial vehicles. For example: the new Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid bus is powered by two fuel cell systems of the same type used in the B-Class F-CELL. Thanks to improved fuel cell components and hybridization with lithium-ion batteries, the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid consumes almost 50 percent less hydrogen compared to the preceding generation. The operating range of the fuel cell bus is around 250 kilometers (155 miles.) The fuel cell drive system is also practically maintenance-free, and has a long operating life.

The global initiative “Shaping Future Transportation” consolidates all the activities for sustainable mobility in the commercial vehicles sector at Daimler AG. The aim of this initiative is to use clean, efficient drive systems along with alternative fuels to realize zero-emission commercial vehicles for tomorrow’s transportation needs. “Shaping Future Transportation” means conserving resources and reducing emissions of all kinds, while ensuring the highest possible level of traffic safety. The Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid, developed with the support of the European Union, plays a major role in this.

Prof. Kohler, Vice President e-drive & Future Mobility at Daimler AG: “Our intensive research and development conducted since 1994 has enabled us to bring the fuel cell to series production maturity. This enables us to entrust two fully practical electric vehicles with battery-electric and fuel cell drive systems to our customers – the smart fortwo electric drive and the B-Class F-CELL. The main objective now is to achieve a competitive cost level in comparison with conventionally powered vehicles and to create a full infrastructure of electric and hydrogen filling stations in cooperation with energy providers and the petroleum industry.”

Large-scale project using fuel cell vehicles

In this large-scale project for the use of fuel cell technology in Hamburg, Daimler is cooperating with the city council as well as with Shell, Total und Vattenfall Europe. The aim is to accelerate the creation of an emission-free vehicle fleet and establish an appropriate infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations. The project is part of the Clean Energy Partnership in Hamburg and Berlin. It is being supported by the federal German government as part of the National Innovation Program for hydrogen and fuel cell technology (NIP).

As part of this cooperation, four public filling stations with hydrogen pumps are to be constructed in Hamburg, enabling fuel cell vehicles to be refuelled within minutes. Thanks to the high hydrogen pressure of 700 bar (10,152 psi,) their operating range will then exceed 400 kilometers (249 miles.) This large operating range will make locally emission-free fuel cell vehicles fully suited to long-distance operations.

Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid Bus and MB B-Class F-CELL Car Share Common Fuel Cell Technologies is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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On September 9, 2009, the leading vehicle manufacturers in fuel cell technology – Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation/Opel, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, the alliance Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corporation – gave a joint statement to the development and market introduction of electric vehicles with fuel cells with a Letter of Understanding (LoU). These companies have built up remarkable know-how in fuel cell technology and thus, the signing marks a major step towards the serial production of such locally emission-free vehicles.

The signing automobile manufacturers strongly anticipate that from 2015 onwards a quite significant number of electric vehicles with fuel cell could be commercialized. This number is aimed at a few hundred thousand units over life cycle on a worldwide basis. As every vehicle manufacturer will implement its own specific production and commercial strategies as well as timelines, commercialization of electric vehicles with fuel cells may occur earlier than in the above-mentioned expected year.

Road traffic has been steadily increasing in recent years and vehicle ownership is expected to grow. As a result, there will be increased priority on low and zero emission vehicles and an increase in overall CO2 reduction goals. Over the last decade, governments, car manufacturers and the energy sector have given special attention to the introduction of hydrogen as a fuel for road transport as a priority option to reach several goals associated with emission management and CO2 reduction. Current demonstration projects involving fuel retail companies, utility providers and engineering companies have shown that the production, storage, transportation and deployment of efficient equipment for hydrogen as a fuel are technically feasible.

In order to ensure a successful market introduction of electric vehicles with fuel cells, a hydrogen infrastructure has to be built up with sufficient density. The network is required by 2015 and should be built-up from metropolitan areas via corridors into area-wide coverage. The signing manufacturers strongly support the idea of building-up a hydrogen infrastructure in Europe, with Germany as regional starting point and at the same time developing similar concepts for the market penetration of hydrogen infrastructure in other regions of the world, including the USA, Japan and Korea as further starting points.

It’s about time these companies pull together to develop fuel cell vehicle standards and infrastructure. The technology may be ready, but if each company continues on its own development path, commercialization will not happen. So this is encouraging news.

Leading Fuel Cell Vehicle Manufacturers Signed Joint Agreement is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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