SUSTAINABLE BUS 2-2023

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The category to which
Hydron can be ascribed
is that of battery-electric
buses with hydrogen
range extender. This is
the dominant paradigm
in today’s fuel cell bus
market.
RAMPINI HYDRON, SIXTRON, ELTRON
WHAT A TRIO
The first 8m bus with a fuel cell. A
pair of rebranded ‘shorts’. Rampini
pushes the challenge of decarbonising
public transport by presenting a range
dedicated to zero emissions
Before September 15, 2022,
a fuel cell-powered midibus
was a concept only possible in
the imagination of enthusiasts.
Rampini, a company that is not new to
the launch of unique products (think of
the six-meter supplied in Cagliari with
a pantograph on the roof for connection
to the trolleybus network), took care
of it to fill what we might call, with a
little of emphasis, a gap in the market.
More realistically, the Rampini Hydron
represents a technological novelty, the
result of that 10 percent of the turnover
invested by Rampini in research and
development, capable of opening new
suggestive horizons. The vehicle was
presented in conjunction with Sixtron
and Eltron, respectively rebrandings of
the battery-electric six and eight-meter
buses, the latter of which was also
restyled. The new eight-meter shares
the platform of the six-meter (the overhangs
change).
Full focus on zero emission buses
In short, a respectable achievement for a
company that in spring 2018 abandoned
its diesel bus production line and focused
all of its energies on zero-emission
drives. Having set aside the commercial
agreement announced at the end of 2019
with the Portuguese CaetanoBus, which
was supposed to allow the Umbrian
company to affix its logo also on a 10.7
and a 12-meter bus, Rampini now has
three models and two different traction
technologies, united by the strictly electric
motor.
To be precise, the category to which
Hydron can be ascribed is that of battery-electric
buses with hydrogen range
extender. This is the dominant paradigm
in today’s fuel cell bus market.
A maximum of 48 people can get on the
bus, a value similar to that provided for
the battery-powered version. 2,200 millimeters
wide, with a maximum speed of
70 kilometers per hour, the Rampini midi
obviously provides access and a place for
the wheelchair. The vehicle is equipped
with an electric motor with a maximum
power of 235 kW, signed by Siemens. A
remarkable value, considering that we
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