New Flyer unveils Xcelsior CHARGE H2™

Both the forty-foot and sixty-foot model have successfully completed the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Model Bus Testing Programme at Altoona, Pennsylvania.

The Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ is the first sixty-foot fuel cell electric bus to complete Altoona and establishes New Flyer as the only manufacturer to offer both a forty-foot and sixty-foot fuel cell electric model that qualifies for federal funding.

The Xcelsior CHARGE H2™ vehicles use environmentally-friendly hydrogen and fuel-cell technology to create electricity and charge batteries for extended-range zero-emission transit operations, saving 85-175 tonnes of greenhouse gas per year.

With a range of up to 300 miles, the bus can be refuelled in 6-20 minutes depending on the model and operating conditions and requires no overnight plug-in electrical re-charging.

“With the addition of the Xcelsior CHARGE H2, New Flyer proudly offers a robust line-up of zero-emission transit buses to assist in the transition to clean transit, to serve the evolving needs of communities, and to meet increasingly stringent greenhouse gas emissions regulation such as California’s Innovative Clean Transit Rule,” said Chris Stoddart, President of New Flyer.

“We anticipate fuel cells for extended range will complement all battery-electric technology, not only in transit, but other industries such as commercial trucks,” said Stoddart.

New Flyer has over 50 years of experience manufacturing zero-emission buses. It introduced its next-generation battery-electric bus, the Xcelsior CHARGE™ in 2017. With the addition of the Xcelsior CHARGE™, New Flyer offers the most diverse line-up of commercially available zero-emission transit buses in North America. 

According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), adopting zero-emission public transit can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 19 million metric tonnes from 2020 to 2050 – the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road – and will reduce emissions by approximately 7,000 tonnes.