Toyota Australia, will be at the Australasian Bus and Coach Expo this week but not with its usual Coaster mini bus.
Toyota will be a point of interest at the Expo where it will display one of its hydrogen fuel cell bus with the company saying that displaying the bus will “grow awareness of the many applications for fuel cell technology”.
The H2.City Gold bus was developed in partnership with Portuguese bus manufacturer CaetanoBus and uses a hydrogen-fuelled Toyota Fuel Cell System that generates electricity and emits only water from the tailpipe.
Toyota Australia manager of energy solutions, Matt Macleod said Toyota imported the bus to showcase its technology and is currently exploring trial opportunities with commercial bus operators.
“Toyota is committed to exploring all opportunities for hydrogen fuel cell applications in Australia and we already have several Mirai FCEV sedans leased by leading organisations,” Macleod said.
“Heavy transport and buses are another commercial space where we believe hydrogen fuel cells can play a big role, so by importing this bus that is already in use in Europe, we are demonstrating that as infrastructure develops, there is a ready-made solution for more sustainable public transport,” he said.
The 10.74m, 34-seat low-floor city bus uses five 7.5kg hydrogen tanks to supply the 60kW fuel cell stack. When the hydrogen is combined with oxygen from the atmosphere in the fuel cell, a chemical reaction generates electricity to drive a 180kW/2500Nm permanent-magnet synchronous electric motor.
Refuelling the bus to its full 37.5kg hydrogen capacity takes between 10 and 15 minutes at 350 bar pressure, giving the bus a range of approximately 450km.
Federal and state governments around the country have committed millions of dollars in funding to help develop hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in Australia.
Toyota also has its own hydrogen production, storage and refuelling facility capable of accommodating both passenger cars and commercial vehicles at the Toyota Hydrogen Centre at Altona in Melbourne’s west.
