500 electric buses for Belgium, 500 fuel cell trucks for China

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The board of Flemish transport company De Rijn has approved an order for 92 standard (12 meter long) electric buses from BYD Europe. BYD manufactures buses in Hungary for the European market. “Following this directive, De Rijn will resolutely continue to green its fleet with the aim of providing completely emission-free public transport by 2035.” said Anne Shubs, Executive Director of Lane. This order represents an investment of more than 43 million euros for him.

Up to 500 BYD electric buses

This order is the next step in achieving De Rijn’s goal of providing completely emission-free public transport by 2035. The company has already ordered 109 articulated electric buses from Iveco, 6 medium-sized electric buses from Yes-EU and 17 HOV electric buses from VDL. . Iveco’s order could expand to include a total of 500 electric buses by 2030. BYD’s order may also increase to a total of 500 electric buses in the future, after De Rijn evaluates and assesses how different suppliers’ vehicles perform in real revenue. A certain service.

De Rijn is an agent of the Flemish government. Flanders offers public transport by bus and tram. The De Lijn network has approximately 1,000 lines and 36,000 stops. Buses and trams make approximately 11 million journeys a year, with a fleet of 2,250 buses and 400 trams. With approximately 8,000 employees, De Lijn is one of the country’s largest employers. The company is the principal owner of Blue Bike, a bike-sharing service that allows passengers to board a bus or tram and complete the last part of their journey on a shared bike. De Rijn also plans to make 50 warehouses more environmentally friendly.

“These vehicles will be produced in Hungary and will be delivered from the beginning of 2025,” says Schaubs. “It will have the same customer-friendly amenities, including USB charging points, electric ramps, ultra-wide screens, LED lighting and seats made from recycled leather. Driver safety and comfort have also been considered.”

Lidia Pieters, Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works, said: “This order for the next electric bus series is great news for travelers and a fulfillment of our climate goals. [It is] More than 43 million euros invested in making the bus fleet even greener. This means that previous generation diesel buses can be replaced with emissions-free vehicles. We are satisfied that De Rijn has succeeded in channeling all Flemish government investment resources into greening by 2023. ”

As for future orders for standard electric buses, de Rijn has the option of ordering both from BYD according to this latest contract, or using the previous contract signed between Van Hool and VDL in 2021. Preserve options. Cost, technical quality and delivery time throughout the lifecycle will play a key role in determining how the company progresses with the electrification of its bus fleet. Mr de Rijn plans to have 36 electric buses operating from Van Hool and 24 from VDL in the coming months. The first of his VDL vehicles was provided to De Rijn and is currently being thoroughly tested.

500 fuel cell delivery trucks for China

In June, Hyundai opened a $1.1 billion fuel cell and manufacturing and technology center in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, making it Hyundai’s first fuel cell factory outside South Korea. The facility can produce up to 6,500 fuel cell systems per year and includes a stack factory, research buildings, offices and an innovation center.

The government of Guangdong Province, whose capital is Guangzhou, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyundai HTWO Guangzhou to deliver 1,500 delivery vehicles, refrigerated trucks, road cleaning vehicles and electric buses by the end of 2024. These vehicles are supplied by H2 Solutions. , a joint venture between Hyundai HTWO Guangzhou and two local state-owned enterprises. H2 Solutions has already delivered 500 of his vehicles to Guangzhou, making this the largest deployment of fuel cell vehicles in China to date.

According to local media, the partnership between the local government and Hyundai could continue beyond the current order. In late December, Guangdong province announced a hydrogen plan for municipalities, saying it wants to have 2,500 fuel cell vehicles on the road by 2025 and 10,000 by 2030.

Hyundai Motor Group is expanding its hydrogen business in China in anticipation of rapid market growth driven by the government. China’s national hydrogen strategy – called the Medium- to Long-term Hydrogen Energy Development Plan (2021-2035) – will be announced in 2022 and aims to increase the number of hydrogen electric vehicles to 50,000 by 2025 and increase annual green hydrogen production. The aim is to increase the amount to 100,000 to 200,000 tons.

clean technica Our readers are often curious and somewhat skeptical, so we want to know more about how China plans to produce this so-called “green” hydrogen. The normal process involves passing a powerful electric current through water, splitting it into its constituents hydrogen and oxygen. The bond between the two is so strong that once they combine to form water molecules, it takes a lot of energy to separate them.

if The required electricity comes from renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines, and the resulting hydrogen is actually ‘green’. But if that electricity comes from a coal-fired power plant, it’s not actually “green” hydrogen at all. Available news sources do not address that question.

Profit from electric buses and trucks

News about electric buses and trucks is like music to our ears. The truth of the matter is that as much as the world is focused on who will or won’t buy electric cars, the real key to cleaning up emissions from the transportation sector lies in replacing diesel engines. about it. Although they’ve been reliable and ambitious workhorses for almost a century, they still produce a lot of airborne debris that is pumped into the atmosphere through the tailpipe.

To make matters worse, your car may only be used for as little as 5% of your normal workday. Diesel-powered trucks and buses are used for 8 to 12 hours straight, which means they create a disproportionate amount of environmental pollution. Many people may not be interested in an electric cement mixer, but from a climate change perspective, electrification has far greater benefits for the planet than a $2 million electric supercar that drives less than 100 miles a year. becomes.

Diesel engines deserve their place in the transportation hall of fame, but now it’s time to move on to the next arena: electric buses, trucks, mining equipment, airport vehicles, cement mixers, fire trucks, ambulances, forklifts and other heavy-duty vehicles. Moreover, some do not leave any trace of contamination in their wake. That’s the future of transportation.