Orlen Unipetrol continues pilot test for hydrogen-powered bus

The company is testing the vehicle alongside the municipalities of Most and Litvínov to enable clean public transportation.

Orlen Unipetrol is continuing its collaboration with the municipalities of Most and Litvínov in the next phase of the pilot operation of a hydrogen-powered bus.

The municipalities, alongside Orlen and other entities, are active members of the hydrogen platform in the Ústí Region. Both towns are among the pioneers of hydrogen-powered mobility in mass transit.

The low-floor electric bus with hydrogen fuel cells was developed by the Slovak company Mobility & Innovation Production s.r.o. It has a total length of 7,982 mm, a width of 2,550 mm, and a height of 2,940 mm. Its maximum capacity is up to 68 passengers, with 20 seated.

“Hydrogen technology is an ideal complement to battery-powered electric mobility in supporting the development of low-emission and zero-emission personal, mass and cargo transportation, both by road and by rail,” explained Tomáš Herink, a member of the Orlen Unipetrol’s board of directors.

The fully air-conditioned bus has a range of up to 350 km under hydrogen power and an additional 100 km under battery power. The electric engine is supplied with power from two batteries with a total capacity of 70 kWh. The total capacity of its four hydrogen tanks is 10.5 kg and filling them takes ten minutes.

The Czech Republic’s Orlen service station network is part of the Orlen Unipetrol Group, a member of the international Orlen Group. It operates the largest chain of stations in the country and the largest network of charging points for electric vehicles. For hydrogen-powered vehicles, the company currently operates two hydrogen filling stations in Prague-Barrandov and in Litvínov.