Ballard Power Systems has announced that its proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell systems have now powered vehicles in commercial heavy- and medium-duty motive tasks across a total distance of over 150 million kilometers (about 93.2 million miles).

This new milestone for the company also represents an industry-leading total for this H2 application.

The total distance traveled by vehicles powered by the PEM hydrogen fuel cell systems from Ballard is about the equivalent to circling Earth’s equator more than 3,700 times. In order to arrive at that milestone, Ballard’s equipment was installed into more than 3,800 buses and trucks. This allowed them to travel in about 15 countries worldwide for zero-emission mobility applications.

“At Ballard, we are designing our PEM fuel cell engines for heavy-duty mobility applications where zero emissions, reliability, and durability are key differentiators for end-user total cost of ownership,” said Ballard Power Systems President and CEO Randy MacEwen. “We continue to set the industry benchmark for PEM fuel cell performance in our target markets. The accumulated distance driven by FCEVs powered by our technology underlines Ballard’s customer focus and commitment to reliable service and high uptime.”

Achieving this milestone has allowed Ballard to stay on top of hydrogen fuel cell possibilities.

“We achieve this industry milestone at a time when we are seeing growing customer interest in the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells in our key mobility verticals of bus, truck, rail, and marine, as well as off-highway and stationary power applications,” explained MacEwen.

 

That said, he also went on to state that as important as the adoption of H2 may be, there remains a substantial amount of value to what has been learned from having had its equipment used for that many miles on the road, particularly in real-world operations in a variety of environments.

“Our learnings from real-world experience will continue to help us optimize our products from a total cost of ownership perspective and deliver products to meet zero-emissions targets without disrupting existing operating practices, including range, payload, and refueling time,” he said.