Beiqi Foton to run zero-emission fuel-cell buses in July

Shanghai, May 6 (Gasgoo.com) At the recent Beijing auto show, Beiqi Foton Motor launched China's first city bus model using the third-generation zero-emission fuel cell technology. The carmaker has produced four city buses powered by the fuel cells and will put them into a trial run on the designated streets in Beijing after the industry and municipal authorities give the green light.

Ouyang Minggao, a professor from Tsing University and a chief expert in charge of this fuel cell technology project, said that the fuel-cell bus made by Foton is the first "zero-emission vehicle" in China and is a landmark in the country's new-energy bus manufacturing sector. "If its trial run in July is successful, this will prove our success in the research and development of the fuel cell technology," Ouyang said.

Featuring the all-new third-generation fuel-cell technology, this Foton fuel-cell bus (codenamed Ou-V Bus, or Eu-V Bus) is equipped with the NiMH power battery and uses the hybrid fuel cell power to achieve the eco-friendly "zero-emission" standard. Foton's sophisticated fuel cells and supporting technologies ensure the "zero-emission" function of the new-energy bus.

Beiqi Foton said it will produce only a limited number of the fuel-cell-driven buses later this year because the manufacturing cost of the fuel-cell bus is still prohibitively high (at about 5 million yuan, or $716,000). The company will export some of the fuel-cell buses, and it has received the first order from the United States for the vehicle.