Launch of the world's first triple-hybrid fuel cell passenger bus

Proton Power Systems plc (AIM:PPS), a leading designer, developer and producer of fuel cells and fuel cell electric hybrid systems, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH ("the Company"), has provided a preview of the world's first passenger bus using the Company's triple-hybrid fuel cell system to public transport operators and experts. The presentation took place in Puchheim, near Munich on 8 May, with the official unveiling and handover to take place this summer in Prague.


The new vehicle is the product of a cooperation agreement between Skoda Electric, UJV Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc and Proton Motor.  As a world-renowned manufacturer of trolley buses and electric-powered rail vehicles, Skoda Electric was responsible for the vehicle, including its electric drive system and system integration. The project was coordinated by UJV, a leading research institution in the Czech Republic. Proton Motor supplied the world's first triple hybrid fuel cell propulsion system.


Unlike conventional hybrid propulsion systems, this environmentally friendly and highly efficient technology has no combustion engine, and is instead a combination of fuel cells, batteries and ultra-capacitors. It harnesses the advantages of electrical propulsion to the full, storing brake energy and thus enabling energy savings of over 50 per cent compared to conventional diesel buses.  It is also completely emissions-free. At the heart of the system is the 50-kW PM Basic A 50 fuel cell system from Proton Motor, which since last year has also been used in the world's first fuel-cell-powered passenger ferry, the FCS Alsterwasser.


The basic vehicle is a 12-metre standard bus with a total permissible weight of 18 tonnes, of the type that has been deployed hundreds of thousands of times in urban transport networks worldwide. The propulsion system's nominal output is 120 kW (163 HP). Its maximum speed is 65 km/h, while its maximum range during urban transport is more than 250 km per tank. The bus is filled with 20 kg of gaseous hydrogen at 350 bar, and the filling process takes less than 10 minutes.  The vehicle will go into operation in and around Prague from mid-2009 onwards.


Commenting on this milestone, Thomas Melczer, CEO of Proton Power, said: "We are extremely proud to be able to once again prove our technological leadership in the field of fuel cells and hybrid systems with this city bus that runs on our triple hybrid system.  Our technology provides maximised efficiency based on an optimised technical design and energy management.  This will strongly support our approach to turn our company into an industrialised volume manufacturer for fuel cell products and applications.  We are also leaders in the implementation of tailor-made solutions in all kinds of applications, especially for public and private fleet operators."