Daimler has announced that ten new fuel cell buses ( Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid) will enter service with the Hamburg transport authority, Hamburger Hochbahn, next year.\u00a0 Hamburger Hochbahn will also receive 20 fuel cell passenger cars – the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL model – starting 2010.<\/p>\n
The Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid is participating in large-scale fleet trials scheduled to take place in Hamburg and other European cities as a follow-up to the European Union’s CUTE and HyFLEET:CUTE projects (conducted between 2003 and 2009). Under the HyFLEET:CUTE project, 36 Citaro buses equipped with the second-generation fuel cell drive system have operated across 12 public transport agencies around the world, including Hamburger Hochbahn. The models have accumulated more than 140,000 hours of operation, during which they covered a total of more than 2.2 million km.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid clearly demonstrates that electric mobility is already feasible today also with commercial vehicles,\u201d says Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses. \u201cBesides, synergy potentials with our Mercedes-Benz passenger car development and Daimler research can be optimally used in particular with the fuel cell drive system.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid and the B-Class F-CELL share a range of common parts, including fuel cell stacks. Daimler claims that the latest Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid consumes almost 50% less hydrogen compared to the preceding generation, due to improved fuel cell components and hybridisation with lithium-ion batteries. The operating range of the fuel cell bus is around 250km.<\/p>\n