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Thousand Oaks, CA to get two Ballard-powered fuel cell buses

Filed under: Hydrogen

The SunLine Transit Agency in Thousand Oaks, CA will be expanding its hydrogen fuel cell test program this year with two new buses. The buses with different chassis and powertrain configurations will both use fuel cell stacks from Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver, British Columbia. The first bus has already been delivered and has the same configuration as the twenty buses that began running in Whistler, BC prior to the winter Olympics.

The second bus uses an El Dorado chassis and uses a series hybrid drive-train built by BAE Systems. The series hybrid configuration works in combination with a lithium ion battery pack that acts as a buffer for electrical energy. The battery captures energy from regenerative braking and provides transient energy needs for acceleration. The fuel cell can operate at constant output for better efficiency to keep the battery charge level up.

[Source: Ballard Power Systems]

Continue reading Thousand Oaks, CA to get two Ballard-powered fuel cell buses

Thousand Oaks, CA to get two Ballard-powered fuel cell buses originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SolarBullet Campaign shoots for high-speed solar train



There's no doubt that solar energy is one of the greenest sources of electricity and the idea of using it to power transportation is not new. We've seen solar-powered boats and solar-powered cars before, among other things, but we didn't know until now that a solar-powered high-speed train was on anyone's drawing board. Apparently, it is.

Conceived as a means of zero-carbon high-speed mass transit, the Solar Bullet would travel between Tucson and Phoenix, AZ at 220 miles per hour, cutting travel times from two and a half hours (in traffic) to just 30 minutes. Taking advantage of the high amount of solar irradiance in the American Southwest, the tracks would be covered by a huge solar array to provide it with the necessary power. The SolarBullet Campaign aims to increase awareness and support among Arizonians and build a team of university experts, engineers and transit specialists to move this project further down the line. Feel free to hit them up on Facebook or follow their Twitter feed to offer your own encouragement and keep track of the initiative.

[Source: SolarBullet Campaign]

SolarBullet Campaign shoots for high-speed solar train originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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