Mercedes-Benz Citaro BZ

The Mercedes-Benz Citaro BZ (BZ for Brennstoffzelle, fuel cell), officially the O 530 BZ, was a fuel cell city bus based on the Citaro. The prototype was presented in 2002 and 37 vehicles were built in all, one prototype and 12 times three series buses, which ran in everyday service in nine European cities in the CUTE project, in Reykjavik in the ECTOS project, in Perth in the STEP project and in Beijing under UNEP. The combustion engine was replaced by an asynchronous electric motor, and nine hydrogen tanks holding 1,845 litres at 350 bar, two fuel cell stacks from Ballard Power Systems, electronics and fans sat in a roof structure. One tank filling gave a range of 250 km, and the bus carried 60 to 70 passengers depending on country and registration. The first series bus was handed to Madrid at the 2003 UITP congress, and the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid followed in 2009.