Tribid Bus Launches in Wales

Coinciding with World Environment Day, Wales launched Europe's first carbon-free minibus powered by three different green technologies; hydrogen fuel cell, lead acid battery technology and ultra-capacitators.

The clean, green, emission-free tribrid is the result of an international collaboration, led and coordinated by the University of Glamorgan in Wales with funding from the Energy Savings Trust, sponsorship from the Welsh Assembly Government and the support of industry.

The tribrid approach overcomes the limitations of vehicles powered solely by battery or fuel cells and provides a more viable solution while also reducing the overall system costs. The fuel cell provides the low to medium constant power delivery, whereas the lead acid battery provides medium constant power. Finally, the ultra-capacitators deliver the massive, instantaneous power demand, which is ideal for high load acceleration and regeneration of braking power.