The loss of storage capacity due to the large fuel cells has been compensated by the addition of a steered extension, which allows the length of the bus to be extended to 13.10 metres. The bus can take 104 passengers. Coupling the fuel cells to a tank containing 40 kg of hydrogen and an efficient electric motor, gives the bus a minimum range of 350 km.

The difference between existing fuel cell buses and the new one is that this model can be driven by two sources, hence the distinction 'hybrid'. A fuel cells converts hydrogen into electrical energy. Any excess energy can be stored in batteries. This means that the bus uses even less fuel than those running on hydrogen alone.

The hydrogen bus is an example of a public-private partnership, which came about through the support of the Flemish Government, UTC Power, Siemens, IWT-Vlaanderen, Air Liquide and De Lijn. UTC Power supplied the fuel cell, Air Liquide the filling station and the hydrogen. Siemens developed the propulsion system. De Lijn advised Van Hool about the interior of the bus.

Managing Director Leopold Van Hool: 'I'm delighted, thanks to support from the Flemish Government and De Lijn, that our company has contributed to the improvement in the air quality around our towns and villages. We need to realise that this technically advanced product could only have been developed as a result of the cooperation between the government, the user and the commercial sector. That's why I'm delighted to see that interest is already being shown by companies abroad: California, Washington DC, Hamburg, London and Amsterdam'.

Talking about Amsterdam: you don't need to go to Belgium to ride in a hydrogen bus. Amsterdam's public transport company (GVB) has recently decided to continue, until January 2008, with the three Mercedes hydrogen buses on routes 32 and 38.