A few years ago three transit agencies in California set out to evaluate hydrogen fuel cell busses. The results are in for Valley Transit Authority's trial and the fuel cell busses are surprisingly expensive. They've been costing the VTA $51.66 per mile to fuel, maintain and operate as opposed to $1.61 per mile for conventional diesel busses. ZEBs typically needed servicing after 1,100 miles, while diesel buses went about 6,000 miles between servicings. There's also a difference in purchase price: $2.5 million for the Zero Emission Busses versus $400,000 for diesel.
The California phase of the study is sponsored in part by the Department of Energy, and includes AC Transit, The VTA, and Coachella Valley's SunLine Transit Agency.
Image courtesy VTA
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