LV may test Israeli-made fleet of fuel cell buses

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, March 13, 2002 | 11:24 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's senators today said Las Vegas may soon host a small test fleet of the nation's first fuel cell buses.

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., are working with an Israeli company called Electric Fuel to bring three to 10 of the new-generation coaches to Southern Nevada, or possibly Reno.

"Do you feel how smooth that is?" Reid asked aides and reporters as he and Ensign today took a short ride around the U.S. Capitol in a prototype of the Electric Fuel bus. "It's so quiet."

About $80 million has been invested to develop the technology to put a battery-powered electric motor in a standard bus body frame. The bus is about the size of a regular city bus -- it holds 48 seated and 30 standing passengers -- and reaches up to 65 miles per hour, but does not belch smoke.

Fleets of the buses could be running in cities all over the nation by the end of the decade, the senators said. A time line for the test fleet is being worked out, company officials said.

Leaders in Las Vegas and Reno, like officials in most cities, are struggling to provide mass transit and reduce air pollution. The "zinc-air fuel cell" bus technology is one answer to both problems, Ensign said.

Southern Nevada transportation officials took a test drive in the bus in November and are working with the state's lawmakers to bring the test fleet to Las Vegas.

The Nevada senators aim to find funding in Congress for the test fleet in an effort to bring the coaches to the state for a 12- to 18-month test period.

It's not clear how much money Congress might approve for the project, Reid aides said.

Electric Fuel also is looking for additional private funding, chairman Robert Ehrlich said.

If mass produced, the fuel cell buses would cost the same as a traditional bus, about $200,000 to $300,000, Erhlich said.

The company today demonstrated that the prototype bus has good pickup and does not lurch -- it doesn't shift gears.

The bus' batteries last about eight hours. The bus uses two batteries, a primary battery and one to assure acceleration.