Portuguese manufacturer, Caetano, is testing one of its 12-metre hydrogen powered H2.CityGold in the city of Cologne, Germany. Similar to the current trial taking place in Ireland, there will no doubt be a lot of interest in the feedback from both passengers and operators alike.
The Caetano H2.City Gold will be operated on different routes in the German City by the regional public transport company, Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH (RVK). The trial will take place until late -January and will allow RVK to test a Caetano hydrogen bus in daily conditions, during the most severe season of the year in terms of weather, and get real in-use information from this most recent technology for public transportation.
During the demonstration, the Caetano H2.CityGold will be based on RVK’s two main bus depots, which are Meckenheim and Wermelskirchen, and will be refuelled in two different hydrogen stations so it can be tested in several bus routes to demonstrate performance capability and technical compatibility.
The Caetano hydrogen bus works by mixing oxygen from air and hydrogen to create electricity through a Toyota fuel cell. This generates electricity and water through chemical reaction, not emitting any harmful substances whatsoever. Electricity is then supplied to the traction motor. The 12m H2.City Gold offers a range of more than 450 km based on full zero emission running, being able to match the conventional diesel buses.
Dr. Marcel Frank, RVK’s new CEO, supports the decision of the retiring CEO Eugen Puderbach to take the H2.CityGold into test operation: “It is important for us to test new manufacturers to gain even more experiences in operating hydrogen buses. We are therefore delighted to have the opportunity of testing Caetano’s hydrogen bus. After this test operation, we will be able to evaluate how the H2.CityGold performs in our wide traffic area.”
“The actions that RVK has been taking in the field of hydrogen are admirable. We are delighted to do the demonstration with RVK who is one of the most experienced hydrogen bus operators. This demonstration would be the ideal opportunity to validate our H2.CityGold.” said Kohei Umeno, Chief Commercial Officer at CaetanoBus.
About CaetanoBus
CaetanoBus, part of the Salvador Caetano Group and Mitsui & Co, is a bus and chassis manufacturer in Portugal. The company has a consolidated offer in vehicles for cities and airports which is a result of its technical capacity in developing unique, customer-oriented mobility solutions. CaetanoBus is also the manufacturer of COBUS, the world’s market leader in airport bus transportation. CaetanoBus has been focusing on electric mobility since 1980.
