VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Loop Energy™ (TSX: LPEN) announces that Mobility & Innovation is launching its H2Bus, an 8-metre hydrogen-electric minibus. A launch event is being held in Bratislava, Slovakia, today.
With more than 1,200 kilometres driven, Mobility & Innovation developed the bus to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen fuel cell technology in transit vehicles and market its future product line. The bus, with seating for 21 passengers, offers a zero-emissions solution to urban transit. Power will be provided by a Loop Energy S300 Series hydrogen fuel cell system and an electric motor.
Mobility & Innovation will display the bus in Slovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, with the goal of securing orders for the H2Bus in markets across Europe.
Fuel efficiency is the standout feature, with the H2Bus requiring just 10.5 kilograms of hydrogen to achieve more than 400 kilometres of range. The increased fuel efficiency allows for lower onboard fuel storage, which has enabled the flexibility to integrate the hydrogen tanks into the bus' engine compartment. H2Bus is an early example of where this design has been made possible in a minibus.
Mobility & Innovation chose Loop Energy's 30 kW fuel cell system after its eFlowTM technology outperformed competitors' products in fuel efficiency tests last year. Throughout the Pilot Phase of its Customer Adoption Cycle, Loop Energy provided integration and design support to help achieve EU homologation approval. Now that Mobility & Innovation can offer the H2Bus for fleet deployment, Loop Energy believes it is close to advancing to the Scale up Phase. The launch is a successful example of Loop Energy's go-to-market strategy to focus on hydrogen fuel cell adoption within commercial mobility.
"We are extremely excited to see the H2Bus come to life and believe it will set a new standard for performance in hydrogen-electric mobility across Europe," said Loop Energy Chief Commercial Officer, George Rubin. "Throughout this project, the focus has been on how we can make the H2Bus as fuel-efficient as possible – we are proud that our eFlow technology could help Mobility & Innovation achieve its fuel consumption targets."
"The H2Bus has always had ambitious fuel consumption targets, and by choosing Loop Energy's fuel cell, we did not have to compromise our vision," said Mobility & Innovation Co-Owner and CEO, János Onódi. "We aim to show bus fleet operators around Europe that hydrogen mobility is a viable option when transitioning to electrification."
To celebrate the completion of H2Bus, Mobility & Innovation will host the launch event today in Bratislava, Slovakia, March 15. More than 50 members of government, industry, and the media will be in attendance. Loop Energy will share its experience integrating its fuel cell system into the bus during the event. Also in attendance will be the Slovakian Ministry of Economics, which is an advocate and supporter of the hydrogen projects in Slovakia.
Loop Energy announced the shipment of the fuel cell system in September 2021 and has agreed to deliver more systems over the next two and a half years.
About Mobility & Innovation Production s.r.o.
Mobility & Innovation Production s. r. o. is a Slovakia-based company responsible for the development of composite lightweight, zero-emission city bus platform. M&I's platform is known for its hydrogen electric powertrain and industry leading GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) for a zero-emission transit bus vehicle, while its low curb weight enables greater passenger capacity while still meeting even the most stringent axel load requirements. For more information, please visit http://mobility-inovation.sk/hu.html.
About Loop Energy Inc.
Loop Energy is a leading designer and manufacturer of fuel cell systems targeted for the electrification of commercial vehicles, including light commercial vehicles, transit buses and medium and heavy-duty trucks. Loop’s products feature its proprietary eFlow™ technology in the fuel cell stack’s bipolar plates. eFlow™ is designed to enable commercial customers to achieve performance maximization and cost minimization. Loop works with OEMs and major vehicle sub-system suppliers to enable the production of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. For more information about how Loop is driving towards a zero-emissions future, visit www.loopenergy.com.
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflect management's current expectations and projections regarding future events. Particularly, statements regarding the Company’s expectations of future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities or the markets in which we operate is forward-looking information, including without limitation the expected fuel efficiency and performance of the Company’s products and the Company’s expectation of future orders for its products from Mobility & Innovation. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions (including without limitation assumptions with respect the current and future performance of the Company’s products and growth in demand for the Company’s products from Mobility & Innovation and other customers) and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control and could cause actual results and events to vary materially from those that are disclosed, or implied, by such forward‐looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company to execute on its strategy, progress existing and future customers through the Customer Adoption Cycle in a timely way, the realization of electrification of transportation, the elimination of diesel fuel and ongoing government support of such developments, the expected growth in demand for fuel cells for the commercial transportation market and the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 30, 2021. Loop disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
