Edison Motors, Plug Power to develop buses; Hexagon Purus receives orders

Edison Motors (Korean electric car manufacturer) and Plug Power agreed to develop and commercialise hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric city buses.

Plug Power’s 125kW ProGen fuel cell engine will provide power to Edison Motors’ electric bus platform. The companies expect to complete a fuel cell electric bus prototype by the second half of 2022 and be prepared to launch a mass-market platform by the first half of 2023. Edison Motors expects to mass-produce the fuel cell electric buses, tentatively named ‘Smart 110F’, distributed in South Korea.

Young-kwon Kang, Chairman of Edison Motors, said, “In the future, we hope to partner on other mobility applications including trucks, vessels, drones, and PAVs (Personal Air Vehicles).”

Andy Marsh, CEO of Plug Power, commented, “We acknowledge this is one of the fast-growing markets in the world and believe that this partnership with Edison Motors will pave the way to achieving global net zero.”

In the meantime, Hexagon Purus has been contracted by two major truck manufacturers in North America to deliver complete vehicle integration of two hydrogen-powered class 8 trucks. The total sales value is around US$ 2.2 million. The trucks will be delivered starting Q2 2022.

Hexagon Purus will assemble and deliver the complete trucks, which involve integrating an electric drivetrain, a fuel cell module, and the Hexagon Purus ProCabTM Hydrogen Storage system and Hexagon Purus ProPackTM high energy density Li-ion battery packs.