RTC of Southern Nevada adds state’s first two hydrogen fuel cell electric buses to fleet; 7 more on order
19 August 2023
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) has added two hydrogen fuel cell electric buses to its fleet. This technology is the first of its kind in Nevada, and the buses are the first hydrogen fuel cell electric buses to be operational statewide.
The hydrogen buses were funded with a $3.8-million Low or No Emission Grant from the US Department of Transportation. The grant also provides funding to train staff to maintain and operate the new technology.
Seven additional 60-foot, hydrogen fuel cell buses have been ordered and will be delivered to Southern Nevada in the fall of 2024. The new buses were manufactured by New Flyer and feature fuel cell technology by Ballard. The hydrogen for the first two vehicles is provided by Air Products.
It is cheaper to buy BEV trucks than FCEV, so why are the latter being bought?
The answer is downtime, dependent on the duty schedule. Not needing long charging times, or alternatively using fast charging which is both tough on many local grids and reduces the life of the battery, means that fewer vehicles can often be used compared to the pure battery alternative.
Since fuel cell vehicles have excellent maintenance and servicing records, this means that lifetime costs of ownership for a fuel cell fleet compared to a pure BEV fleet can be lower which a naive comparison of purchase costs per vehicle does not show.
If the battery is pretty hefty, naive comparisons of fuel costs per mile are also wide of the mark, as much of the mileage will still be electric.
In addition, where there are considerable changes in elevation or the temperature is frequently very low, FCEVs do way better than pure BEVs.
Posted by: Davemart | 19 August 2023 at 01:31 AM