The German engineering group seized the occasion of Hyvolution to present its combustion engine that will be used for retrofitting buses. The engine is about one metric tonne with a 8.7 litres capacity.

In this interview, Nadim Andraos, Vice-President of FEV France, tells us all about their H2 combustion engine and their choice to turn toward retrofit solutions for buses. He explains that “this segment will be under constraints in a near future since LEZs will forbid polluting means of transport in France’s biggest cities.” With their solution, FEV France hopes to retrofit at least a thousand buses.

“However, it is necessary to rely on a retrofit network. You need actors that will offer the kit on the market such as Ivéco or Fiat-GM Powertrain – our Italian partner – and then you also need manufacturers, who will transform the current applications into hydrogen, or fleet managers like Keolis or Transdev. They are the ones who take over and make the retrofit happen,” he says.  

He stresses the fact that the dynamic is set off although electric and fuel cell solutions are preferred for now. However, he remains very optimistic as for the future thanks to projects such as JCB’s who has announced it will start producing H2 combustion engines on an industrial scale around 2024. 

Finally, he is adamant that “retrofitting will be a necessary lever to accelerate the energy transition, that’s for sure. We’re not going to be able to do it with pure electrics alone. That’s out of the question. To succeed in the energy transition we need several levers, including hydrogen combustion and fuel cells.”

The whole interview is available here (in French).

Did you like this interview of FEV France? Then our other interviews made at hyvolution should interest you. You can see them here and there.