Capacity of Fuel Cell Buses for Routes with Large Differences in Altitude

On behalf of the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – GIZ), LBST carried out an analysis to identify suitable manufacturers of fuel cell buses for participation in a pilot project for an extraordinarily demanding route in Chile. These buses are to take miners from Antofagasta on the west coast to their workplace 180 km away. The suitability of the buses offered for use in factory labour transport was to be assessed.

The results of the analysis form the basis for the next steps to implement the pilot project on a 180 km bus route from Antofagasta to Minera Escondida in Chile, which can be used as a blueprint for other routes with comparable conditions. In discussions with a total of 17 potential FC bus manufacturers, special challenges such as route length, altitudes, high gradients, slippery roads and extreme environmental conditions were discussed. In the course of the analysis, it turned out that due to the limited market size of the specific application scenario, a better knowledge of the different mining routes and the required transport capacities and their influence on the vehicle specification is required. This is the only way to evaluate the development and production efforts in comparison to the expected market volume.

None of the FC bus manufacturers surveyed as part of the analysis has a suitable solution for operating the demanding route.

Further information available here.