HyFLEETCUTE 05-09
HyFLEET:CUTE 06-09

The 3 fuel cell hydrogen buses were used until January 2007. The ECTOS project came to and end in August 2005 and the performance of the buses exceeded all expectations. Thereafter they were put to furhter use in a demonstration called HyFLEET:CUTE project, where Daimler saw to the project management. A general factsheet on the project published by the project management describes the overall organisation and the goals. HyFLEET:CUTE is a European commission supported project, identification number: TREN/05/FP6EN/ S07.52298/019991

Fuel cells are known to have shorter life time than for example diesil engines and therfore continous use may reveal how sensitive the fuel cells are to prolonged strain. The goal is to run the buses and the hydrogen station for longer continuous periods, not to stop during weekends and find out the optimal running mode for the whole system. Still the buses are not only kept on a single route; they can show up anywhere in the normal public transportation system in Reykjavik. Icelandic New Energy can find out on short notice where they are in traffic.

Students at the University of iceland and reserchers from several departments have conducted studies on social aspects. A report on these is called Social aspects of introducing hydrogen as fuel in Reykjavik.

    

Hydrogen buses of the same type as the buses in Reykjavik will be used in several cities in Europe, in Perth in Australia and Bejing in China. The largest fleet will be operated in Hamburg, Germany. The goal of this project is to monitor the performance of the buses and the infrastructure, compile the outcomes of social studies within the ECTOS and CUTE projects and harmonise the dissemination of the lessons learned during all the tests. IN ECTOS it became evident that it is poosible make the fuel economy better and if only the systems are synchronized. The most important factors is to run the station in a contiuous mode and keep producing hydrogen for several weeks. Also to run the buses 6-7 days a week and raise thereby the demand for hydrogen. The buses have shown much better fuel efficiency if they run on longer distances and stop more seldom - just like other types of vehicles. Data that can reveal the differences according to various running modes will be collected during the HyFLEET CUTE. In Germany, the lessons learned during the tests will be used to design a second generation of the EvoBus fuel cell bus and MAN will put a bus to the test which runs on hydrogen but is equipped with an internal combustion engine.

The project website is at www.global-hydrogen-bus-platform.com.

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Icelandic New Energy - Orkugarði, Grensásvegi 9, 108 Reykjavík, Iceland - Phone: +354 588 03 10 - Fax +354 588 03 15