EMT Madrid orders first FC buses from CaetanoBus

The public transport operator EMT Madrid has ordered its first fuel cell buses. An order for ten units was placed with the Portuguese manufacturer CaetanoBus. The H2.City Gold model buses are to be delivered to Madrid by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

EMT Madrid already has numerous battery-electric buses in its fleet; as reported, the Spanish capital converted its 16th bus line to battery-electric vehicles more than a year ago. The public transport operator uses electric buses from Irizar, Solaris and BYD, and others.

Next year, the first fuel cell buses will then roll through Madrid in regular service. The H2.City Gold is the Portuguese manufacturer’s familiar twelve-meter low-floor bus, powered by the new generation of Toyota fuel cell stacks. These have an output of 70 kW. The vehicles can travel between 350 (winter) and 550 (summer) kilometres on one tank of hydrogen.

So far, there is only a LinkedIn post and a mailed press release from CaetanoBus about the order. EMT Madrid has not yet commented. Thus, it remains unclear how the vehicles will be fuelled and on which routes they will be used.

Nuno Lago de Carvalho, Chief Commercial Officer of CaetanoBus, says: “Spain is a key market for CaetanoBus, and we are very pleased to become market leader by supply more 10 units of our H2.City Gold to another important public transport operator as EMT Madrid. Hydrogen mobility is key to decarbonise big bus fleets and crucial to fight against climate change in a sustainable manner”.

CaetanoBus also offers the City Gold as a battery-electric version, but in Europe, the company is better known for its fuel cell buses. The latter bear the Toyota emblem as part of the cooperation with the Japanese company. CaetanoBus has already sold some 115 H2.City Gold in Europe, including Germany.

Source: Infos per mail, linkedin.com