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March 19,

4:31 pm

Recently, the Lewis County Transit received its inaugural hydrogen fuel cell bus from New Flyer, prompting Executive Director Joe Clark to discuss the financial implications of these vehicles compared to traditional diesel buses with The Chronicle.

According to Clark, the acquisition cost for each hydrogen-powered bus hovers around $1.2 million. Lewis County Transit has plans to incorporate five of these eco-friendly buses into their operations by the end of the year.

Despite the fact that diesel buses presently come with a lower initial price of about $800,000 each, Clark highlights that hydrogen fuel cell buses will be more economical in the long term.

Besides the upfront investment, the ongoing maintenance and operational expenditures must be factored in, Clark explained. While diesel buses typically demand about $300,000 annually for running and maintenance, the hydrogen variants require only an estimated $225,000 each year.

Each hydrogen fuel cell bus is anticipated to function effectively for a minimum of 12 years within the Lewis County Transit fleet. This longevity implies that, over the course of these 12 years, the transition to hydrogen will lead to savings of around $900,000 in maintenance costs per bus, as estimated by Clark.

Clark based the hydrogen fuel cell bus’s annual upkeep cost on data from various California transit systems that have been operating such buses for five years. Additionally, he noted that the new buses also exhibit superior fuel efficiency compared to their diesel counterparts.

In terms of energy equivalence, one kilogram of hydrogen provides as much usable energy as one gallon of diesel. The diesel buses operated by Lewis County Transit achieve approximately 5 to 6 miles per gallon, while hydrogen buses can travel about 7 to 9 miles per kilogram.

The hydrogen fuel cell buses work as hybrids, utilizing hydrogen to fuel generators responsible for maintaining battery charge. Clark remarked that should a bus run low on hydrogen while on a route, it would still have sufficient energy to maintain operations for an additional 30 minutes.

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The development of a hydrogen refueling station on Port of Chehalis property by Lewis County Transit is underway and projected to finalize soon. Meanwhile, a temporary refueling station is being established at their headquarters to facilitate testing and training for drivers this year.

Additionally, several local entities are collaborating on the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub (PNWH2), which will collectively receive up to $1 billion dedicated to hydrogen initiatives.

Funding recipients of the PNWH2 project include Lewis County Transit, Centralia College, Puget Sound Energy, and USA Fortescue Future Industries.

For further reading on the recent introduction of hydrogen buses at Lewis County Transit, you can reference this article from Tuesday's edition of The Chronicle: https://tinyurl.com/2zv734ku.

Cost Implications Revealed | Comparative Analysis of Hydrogen vs. Battery Electric Buses