Northern Ireland’s Wrightbus has unveiled its second generation double-decker hydrogen fuel cell bus, five years on from the launch of the original vehicle.
The new Streetdeck Hydroliner Gen 2 was redesigned “from the ground up” in a four-year project part-funded by the UK Government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC).
Featuring Ballard’s latest fuel cell, the OEM says the Gen 2 bus offers 20% savings in fuel costs, 30% savings in maintenance parts over 15 years, a 5% increase in passenger capacity, as well as “significant savings” on original base price.
The Jo Bamford-owned firm says the new model can be refuelled in just eight minutes and boasts a range of over 300 miles, which it claims is a “like-for-like replacement to diesel.”
“Our development team has ensured this flagship bus is more efficient, travels further, costs less and is easier to maintain,” according to Wrightbus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales. “Alongside our market-leading EV bus, 95% of all buses produced by Wrightbus at our Ballymena factory are now zero emissions.”
The first iteration of the bus was launched in 2020, making it the first of its kind. It quickly found deployment across various European cities as part of government-backed plans.
Now, the company is eyeing the commercialisation of its hydrogen-powered drives, with the Gen 2 Streetdeck coming as a first key stepping stone.
Philippa Oldham, Stakeholder Engagement Director at APC, said, “This fuel cell-powered bus shows the opportunity to commercialise this technology.”
Wrightbus previously confirmed to H2 View that around 120 of the 1,200 buses under the up to £500m deal with the UK’s Go-Ahead Group could be its hydrogen-powered buses.
Read more:10% of Wrightbus’ largest ever deal could be met by its hydrogen-powered buses
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