Developed through the 'Hydrogen Electric Hybrid Bus Development and Demonstration' Project
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dong-guk Lee] The hydrogen electric hybrid bus from Ulsan, exhibited at the ‘2022 H2 MEET’ exhibition held at Ilsan KINTEX from August 31 to September 3 for four days, attracted the attention of domestic and international officials from the very first day of the event.
‘2022 H2 MEET’ is the world’s first and Korea’s largest global hydrogen industry specialized exhibition, with participation from 241 companies and institutions from 16 countries worldwide in the fields of hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and transportation, and hydrogen utilization.
The hydrogen electric hybrid bus exhibited from Ulsan this time is a new concept hydrogen bus developed through a consortium of local small and medium-sized electric bus specialized companies, featuring a system that can use both secondary battery and hydrogen fuel cell simultaneously.
Compared to existing electric buses, the driving range has been improved, and a technology that maximizes battery efficiency by charging the battery with the hydrogen fuel cell has been applied.
Due to the application of this technology, domestic and international officials, including the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources of Canada and embassy officials, visited the Ulsan hydrogen electric hybrid bus booth on the first day of the exhibition and showed great interest.
Commemorative photo with Hannaford, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Canada (third from the left), who visited the hydrogen electric hybrid bus booth.
The bus is being developed under the ‘Hydrogen Electric Hybrid Bus Development and Demonstration’ project supported by the city from June 2021 to May 2024, led by Ulsan Technopark with participation from A-PAM, KAR, NGVI, and others.
The total project cost is 2.4 billion KRW (1.2 billion KRW from the city, 1.2 billion KRW private investment), with vehicle development scheduled to be completed by December 2022 and commercialization planned through demonstration operation until May 2024.
In this regard, the city signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in June 2021 with the developing companies and demand companies Seoul Bus and Cha Partners.
The demand company Seoul Bus has requested a pre-order of 5 units to be delivered upon completion of the demonstration, and it is expected that there will be an annual demand of 200 to 300 units.
A city official stated, “Through the development of the hydrogen electric hybrid bus, we will actively support local parts companies that are experiencing difficulties due to the closure of companies like Xyle Daewoo Bus to regain vitality.”
To overcome the current difficulties faced by the bus industry in the Ulsan region, a (tentatively named) Hydrogen Bus Cooperative (UHB) is expected to be established in 2022, centered around local bus partner companies.
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