Energy
Fuel Cell Buses cost 32 times more than Diesel to operate; Fuel Cell maker Ballard bails from the project
By goHTSN Staff
Feb 28, 2008, 12:55

From this Memorandum of the Board of Directors of Transportation and Planning Committee, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

Sacramento, CA — Feb 21, 2008 — Facts taken from this memorandum:

• As part of Carb regulations, transit agencies on the diesel path with
200 or more buses were required to implement a Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) demonstration program.
To accomplish this, VTA partnered with SamTrans to purchase three fuel cell buses. The VTA/SamTrans Zero Emission Fuel Cell Buses (ZEBs) first entered revenue service February 28, 2005.

• The performance and the cost to operate the ZEBs was compared to VTA’s 40 foot diesel bus fleet. Based on the information to date, the cost to operate the ZEBs is significantly higher than the cost to operate diesel buses. In addition, ZEBs exhibit a limited service life, compared to diesel buses, while the reliability and availability remain significantly lower.

• Bus availability, has ranged from a low of 26% for the month of March 2007 to a high of 87% for the month of January 2006. On average, bus availability is approximately 65% as compared to better than 80% for the diesel fleet.

• Reliability, as measured by miles between road calls (MBRC), has varied greatly since the start of revenue service. During the period of February 2005 through May 2007 the buses averaged 1100 MBRC. The 40 foot diesel fleet has a reliability of approximately 6,000 MBRC.

• Because the fuel cell stack is the essential component and a major cost of the vehicle, a major purpose for this demonstration program is to determine the life and/or durability of the fuel cell stack. Fuel cell stacks averaged less than 17,000 miles before replacement.

• The performance of the fueling facility was consistent and operated with an efficiency of approximately 50%: that is, for every DGE hydrogen dispensed into the bus, a DGE hydrogen is lost into the atmosphere.

• Based on performance and fueling challenges, the cost to operate the hydrogen fuel cell buses is shown in Table 1. With the parts and fuel costs as the major factors, the operating cost is significantly higher for fuel cell bus operation than for diesel bus operation:

                Average Cost Per Mile
Ave Cost Per Mile           Diesel           Fuel Cell
Parts Cost                        $0.21           $34.40
Labor Cost                        $0.84           $7.87
Fuel Cost                          $0.56           $2.86
Total Maint. Cost              $1.61            $45.13
Fuel Loss Cost                     N/A            $2.86
Fuel Facility Lease Cost       N/A            $3.67
                                      ______           ______
Total Cost                        $1.61            $51.66

 • Although the CARB initial demonstration requirements have been completed, VTA currently plans to continue operating the fuel cell buses providing reasonable parts and fuel availability.

• However, Ballard Power Systems (Ballard), the manufacturer of the fuel cells and integrator of the system, has indicated that the fuel cells in these buses are old technology; and Ballard will not develop new longer-life fuel cells of this design and no longer design vehicle integrations. Furthermore, Ballard Power Systems will no longer produce various components and parts for these vehicles. The specific parts and components have not been verified; nor the specific remaining supply.

• The reliability and availability of the ZEBs continues to be substantially less than the diesel bus fleet. With the added potential of parts supply problems, the availability for these buses will not increase.

• Additionally, VTA will implement an advanced ZEB demonstration program in a joint effort with AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit, Sam Trans and MTC in accordance with the new CARB regulations. This requires that the region operate a total of 12 advanced Zero Emissions Buses starting in 2009.

• VTA is working with MTC and the other agencies to identify and secure capital funding for this program, which is estimated at $36,000,000. The majority of the funds would be obtained through Federal 5307, BAAQMD and AB1811 and in partnership with SamTrans.

• The VTA portion is anticipated to be approximately $4,000,000 due to the experimental nature of this technology. We will continue to update the Board as funding and regional implementation is solidified.

• The Zero Emission Fuel Cell Bus demonstration has provided the industry with a significant amount of information and data regarding the status of fuel cell technology for transit bus service. The information and data have been used to make improvements in fuel cell technology for integration into a transit bus application, as well as to assess the future for fuel cell technology.