TÜV NORD Mobility for hydrogen buses

The bus team at TÜV NORD Mobility is supporting to get ready for the hydrogen age

Hydrogen is already a very important factor in the strategy of public transport. The number of hydrogen-powered vehicles on city streets will increase every year, not just because of the EU’s Clean Vehicles Directive, which calls for 45% of clean buses in relation to new vehicles (65% after 2026). Still regulations in Europe are not well established for automotive sector when it comes to inspections of hydrogen vehicles so all depots or workshops who start dealing with fuel cell cars must quickly gain new competence and adapt to the new reality.

In 2021, the first hydrogen buses for the German and Italian markets were checked by TÜV NORD experts. Since these buses contain systems with different hazards such as high pressure or high voltage, customers want to ensure that the bus is reliable and safe for passengers throughout the service life.

To expand their know-how, TÜV NORD experts have been trained and got qualification to work on gas-powered vehicles with a focus on fuel cells and hydrogen at Westfälisches Ausbildungs-Werk WAW and took part in training courses organized by Ballard Power Systems, the world’s leading provider of fuel cell solutions.

The content of those trainings included module design, safety when handling fuel cell units, fault diagnosis, maintenance, regulations and requirements towards gas systems. Krzysztof Sitko, Business Development Manager Bus & Truck, is pleased: “A deeper know-how follows the development path that the bus inspection team is consistently pursuing in the direction of alternative drive solutions. That competence already today is indispensable in our job for the quality inspection and checking the correctness of solutions applied on hydrogen buses. The aim is to prepare the new technology for the needs of the operators and to support them with our knowledge and experience”

Moreover, for customers that are still in planning phase and require feasibility studies and analysis or planning for infrastructure and routes that ought to be served by electric or hydrogen buses, TÜV NORD Mobilität can also offer comprehensive solutions in co-operation with TÜV NORD GROUP units like EE Energy Engineers

Ingo Albes adds “TÜV NORD’s strategic goal is to become a knowledge organization. Here we can see what this can look like and how customers can benefit from it ”.