Ballard Power Systems announced on December 20th 2011 that the 20-bus fleet operated by BC Transit in the Resort Municipality of Whistler, British Columbia and powered by Ballard FCvelocityTM-HD6 fuel cell modules recently surpassed 1-million miles (1.6-million kilometers) of revenue service.

The BC Transit fleet has been the largest hydrogen fuel cell-powered bus fleet in operation anywhere since it went into service approximately 2-years ago and is the first hydrogen fuel cell bus fleet to achieve the 1-million mile revenue service mark. The buses went into service in January, 2010 prior to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and have been an effective showcase for clean transportation alternatives.

By end-November 2011 a number of important results had been achieved:

• The 20-bus fleet had operated a total of 80,000 hours;
• More than 9,600 safe refuellings had been completed, by which 220,000 kilograms of hydrogen was dispensed to the fleet’s buses; and
• 2,200 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were avoided, in comparison to diesel buses, which is equivalent to removing approximately 400 passenger vehicles from the roads.

Source: Ballard PR, FuelCellToday