CaetanoBus supplies hydrogen buses to Deutsche Bahn

The Portuguese company won an international tender and will supply hydrogen vehicles to the German public transport operator.

The German public transport operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) has selected CaetanoBus to supply its fleet of hydrogen buses and has already announced an order for 60 units, which will be equipped with the new generation of Toyota’s fuel cell. The first buses will be in operation in early 2024.

This framework agreement boosts CaetanoBus sales of the H2.CityGold model, CaetanoBus’ hydrogen powered electric bus, which already has more than 115 units sold to various European cities in Germany, France, Spain, Denmark and Portugal. Saudi Arabia and Australia also have Caetano buses from this model in operation.

The vehicle is the result of a partnership between Toyota and CaetanoBus, with the Portuguese company being the first in Europe to use Japanese technology.

The co-branded model, between CaetanoBus and Toyota, the H2.City Gold is a standard 12m low floor bus, with aluminum bodywork and which from 2024 will be equipped with the new generation of the Toyota fuel cell that will have a nominal power of 70 kW.

More efficiency and more power

This Second Generation Toyota Fuel Cell is more compact, lighter and even more efficient, delivering more power than the previous generation. Toyota began developing fuel cells in 1992 and has continued to perfect its hydrogen technology.

The new second-generation fuel cell modules are now assembled in Europe at Toyota Motor Europe’s Research and Development (TME) facility in Zaventem, Brussels.

With the new Fuel Cell Generation, the CaetanoBus R&D engineering team also took the opportunity to improve the integration of this new technology in the bus, now using the heat released from the fuel cell to heat up the bus passenger compartment more quickly and provide even more comfort in the passenger area and in the driver’s cabin.

CaetanoBus is also implementing other improvements that will boost the vehicle’s performance, such as further reducing hydrogen consumption and increasing driving comfort.

The H2.City Gold is also equipped with a battery pack using LTO technology, with a capacity of 44 kWh and an electric motor with a power of 180 kW. The H2.City Gold will offer an autonomy of more than 500 km, being able to match the autonomy of conventional diesel buses in a single fueling.

Passenger capacity goes up to 81 passengers (34 seats and 47 standing) according to the layout defined by DB. This order is another important step towards the presence of CaetanoBus hydrogen buses in the German market, the most evolved in the adoption of hydrogen mobility solutions.

Decarbonization

So far, and not counting these buses for Deutsche Bahn, there are more than 55 Caetano H2.City Gold units in different German cities, between units delivered and in production.

Nuno Lago de Carvalho, Chief Commercial Officer of CaetanoBus, stresses that “we are proud to have been the best manufacturer in a highly demanding international tender and to have been the company chosen by Deutsche Bahn, one of the most important bus operators in Europe”.

“In addition, we are also proud to continue to play an important role in the sustainable decarbonization of the public transport sector in Europe, namely by using hydrogen technology to achieve carbon neutrality”, he concluded.