CaetanoBus & Temsa to develop hydrogen coach

CaetanoBus and Temsa want to launch a hydrogen-electric coach in 2024. The cooperation between the Portuguese and Turkish manufacturers specifies that the first product will be a two-axle H2 coach based on an electric version of the Temsa HD12.

The partners are aiming for series production of the dual-axle version in 2025. A three-axle hydrogen coach is to follow shortly thereafter. CaetanoBus and Temsa are talking about ranges of up to 1,000 kilometres. The fuel cell technology comes from the Japanese company Toyota, with which CaetanoBus has been cooperating for some time. And: Thanks to an “H2 Dual System”, the vehicles will be able to run on either 350 or 700 bar hydrogen, which means that the buses will be able to drive to any hydrogen filling station in the future, regardless of the tank pressure provided there.

The partners have not yet named any further technical key points – such as the tank volume, the power or the battery. What is clear is that the Temsa HD12, which serves as the basis for the new hydrogen coach, is a 12-metre coach with 53 seats, one wheelchair space and a toilet. The permissible total weight is 19 tonnes. On its website, Temsa gives the dimensions as 12,276 x 2,550 mm x 3,644 mm, and the luggage volume as nine cubic metres.

Both partners state that they want to serve the European demand in the long-distance transport segment with their development. In this sector, “hydrogen mobility is a must”, CaetanoBus emphasised in a statement sent to electrive by email. That CaetanoBus takes this stand is clear. After all, the Portuguese company specialised in the construction of H2 buses. So far, however, they have only built city buses. The best-known representative is the H2.City Gold.

Temsa does not yet have any hydrogen buses in its portfolio, but it does have two battery-electric models for the city bus sector: the 12-metre-long Avenue Electron, which, according to information on the manufacturer’s website, has an e-drive train with 250 kW and 2,700 Nm of torque as well as a battery pack with up to 400 kWh on board. As well as the smaller MD9 electriCITY electric bus for narrow roads and “relatively rough road conditions”. According to the manufacturer, the bus has the same power of 250 kW, a slightly more moderate torque of 2,600 Nm and 200 kWh battery capacity. The Turkish company presented the electric bus duo at the UITP in Stockholm in 2019.

Source: Info via email, temsa.com (HD12)