(Stuttgart / Germany) – Daimler Buses GmbH is cooperating with the filling station operator H2 Mobility Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG. As part of what the company calls a "holistic consulting approach," the vehicle manufacturer intends to broker and improve hydrogen refueling options in the future.
Daimler Buses and H2 Mobility Germany are cooperating on the expansion of the hydrogen tank infrastructure for transport companies (from left): Dietrich Müller (Managing Director of Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH), Martin Jüngel (Managing Director and CFO of H2 Mobility Germany), Mirko Sgodda (Head of Marketing, Sales and Customer Services Daimler Buses), Falk Schulte-Wintrop (Director Sales & Business Development at H2 Mobility) on the premises of Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH in Mannheim. © Daimler Truck AG
According to the plans, H2 Mobility will build stations in the immediate vicinity of transport companies based on demand. In addition, these companies could have a fuel pump directly at their own depot if required. The publicly accessible filling stations would be operated by H2 Mobility, so that investment and operating costs for bus operators would be eliminated.
The company is pursuing "a clear electrification strategy" and is bringing buses with alternative drive technologies onto the road, says Mirko Sgodda, Head of Marketing, Sales and Customer Services: "In doing so, we are focusing on battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen-based fuel cells, just like our parent company Daimler Truck."
The purely battery-electric Mercedes-Benz "eCitaro" city bus in the "eCitaro fuel cell" variant has been equipped with a fuel cell to extend its range since 2023. In cooperation with Daimler Buses Solutions GmbH, the group supplies individually configured "solutions for the operation of electrically powered bus fleets" right up to the complete E or H2 infrastructure for the depot.
By the end of the year, 50 locations with 350 bar
By the end of the year, the H2 Mobility station network will offer buses and trucks the opportunity to refuel at 50 bar at more than 350 locations. The company currently operates 34 such stations in Germany.
One motive for the now communicated cooperation is certainly not least to increase the sales and acceptance of vehicles powered by fuel cells as well as hydrogen - even if both companies do not explicitly mention this.
New bus filling station in Mannheim in operation
Just last week, H2 Mobility opened a public hydrogen refueling station in Mannheim at the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (RNV) depot. The transport company had acquired 13 H2-eCitaro articulated buses as part of the H2Rhein-Neckar funding project. A combination pump allows trucks to refuel at 350 bar, while refuse collection vehicles, small commercial vehicles, and hydrogen-powered cars can refuel at 700 bar.
Mannheim's mayor Christian Specht during a photogenic "show" refueling of a garbage collector at the newly opened hydrogen filling station at the RNV depot. © H2 Mobility / Max Jackwerth
In April, the company also opened a hydrogen filling station in Heidelberg at RNV's new depot for alternative drives. Another filling station will be built in Ludwigshafen "by next year". The new RNV fleet will comprise a total of 48 H2-eCitaro buses and will refuel with hydrogen at the Heidelberg, Mannheim and Ludwigshafen locations.
Photo above
Daimler Bus will also provide hydrogen filling stations for buses in the future. © Daimler Truck AG
