The Hidden Cost of Europe’s Hydrogen Bus Experiment - CleanTechnica

The article examines the economic and operational realities of hydrogen buses in Europe, focusing on Poland, the continent’s largest bus manufacturing hub and home to Solaris, a leading zero-emission bus supplier. Poland’s large-scale deployment of hydrogen buses in real urban settings with professional operators provides a critical test case. The experience in Poznań, where hydrogen and battery electric buses operate side-by-side under identical conditions, reveals that hydrogen buses face higher fuel costs, supply quality issues, and operational interruptions, resulting in lower availability compared to battery electric buses. This comparison is based on internal data rather than advocacy, highlighting the practical challenges of hydrogen technology in public transit. A detailed cost-benefit analysis from the Upper Silesian Zagłębie Metropolis further underscores these findings. Over a 10-year horizon, hydrogen buses have significantly higher purchase and energy costs (€750,000 and €0.74/km respectively) compared to battery electric buses (€610,000 and €0.21/km) and diesel (€235,