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Technology Stocks : Ballard Power -world leader zero-emission PEM fuel cells -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PeterR1700 who wrote (4395)	10/12/1999 4:50:00 PM
From: peter dumbrille	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5827

Not sure we need more of us. We might get carried away with ourselves. We really need more like us. Cheers, Peter Dumbrille

To: PeterR1700 who wrote (4395)	10/13/1999 9:57:00 AM
From: Hawkeye	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5827

New Ballard fuel-cell bus grabs attention in Florida Fourth-generation engine simpler and lighter than those in buses being tested in Vancouver and Chicago. William Boei, Sun Business Reporter Vancouver Sun Ballard Power Systems and its partners have put another fuel-cell bus on the road and reiterated they're on schedule for commercial production of zero-emission bus engines by 2002. The new bus is attracting "quite a bit of interest" at the International Public Transportation Exposition, a transit trade show in Orlando, Fla., Ballard officials said Tuesday. It is powered by a 205-kilowatt (275 horsepower) fourth-generation fuel-cell engine that's simpler in design and 2,000 kilograms lighter than those in buses being tested by the Vancouver and Chicago transit systems. The new engine was built by dbb fuel cell engines inc., which is owned 51 per cent by Daimler-Chrysler, 27 per cent by Ballard and 22 per cent by Ford. "This P4 engine is our commercial prototype," dbb chief operating officer Rick Pow said from Orlando. "It's ready to go to the bus manufacturers today for integration into their buses." Asked if any bus companies have placed orders yet, Pow said: "We're talking with a number of the bus manufacturers right now." The new bus was brought to Florida to show the public transportation industry "that fuel cell technology is not six or 10 years off as some people have said, but it's actually ready today to go to bus manufacturers and it will be in production in 2002," Pow said. The engine was built at dbb's Burnaby shop but no decision has been made about where mass production will take place. Pow said that will depend on a number of factors, including the location of major customers. The new engine should allow bus makers to produce buses priced initially at about $850,000 Cdn, making them competitive with trolley buses and diesel-natural gas hybrids, Pow said. Dbb expects engine prices to fall "quite rapidly" after mass production begins, especially as fuel-cell production is stepped up for passenger cars in 2004 or 2005. Ballard chair Firoz Rasul said the new engine uses Ballard's latest fuel cells and incorporates lessons learned during the Vancouver and Chicago field trials. Ballard said the new engine is available to a California test project that will be put 25 buses on the road. Ballard, four automakers, three major oil companies and the California government are testing fuel-cell vehicles in real-life conditions and studying fuel and fuel infrastructure.