Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Technology State of the ... - NEXTHYLIGHTS

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Technology State of the Art Review
2.3 Market conclusions
The bus market has a much more fragmented supply chain than the passenger car
segment. Conventional buses are often built by two separate companies, one supplying
the chassis and the other the bus body and bus operators often deal with more than one
company for the maintenance of a single bus. This fragmentation is reflected in the
supply chain for hydrogen fuel cell buses, where some buses are built by a dedicated
OEM and others are built by consortia that supply different aspects of the bus.
The fuel cell bus market has developed in phases, with an initial deployment led by
Europe‟s CUTE project around 2002-3, followed by a new wave of “next generation”
hybrid buses which will go into service between 2010-11.
The fuel cell bus market has historically been dominated by a limited number of players
(EvoBus, Van Hool and New Flyer for buses and Ballard and UTC for fuel cells) and
currently only 2-3 major European manufacturers (out of the six major European OEMs)
have made significant investments in hydrogen bus technologies. These are, most
notably, EvoBus and Van Hool for fuel cell buses and MAN who have invested in
Hydrogen ICE buses, but recently moved away from further bus demonstration in the
short term.
The new wave of next generation buses will bring an increasing number of players to the
market but there is a general consensus within the existing fuel cell bus players that
more of the large players investing in the technology would increase competition,
helping to accelerate the cost reduction process, and increase the overall confidence of
the bus industry in the technology.
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