The first autonomous hydrogen powered vehicle in the world to be granted road legal status was publicly launched at an event in Tartu on July 5th. The shuttle bus has been developed by the Estonian autonomous vehicle developer, Auve Tech , in cooperation with the University of Tartu, and has no passed all of the requited tests from the Estonian Road Administration and is allowed to start operating on public roads. The shuttle which seats up to six passengers is aimed at enhancing 'last-mile' transportation, the difficult part of the public transport systems that covers the journey from bus or train stations to peoples final destination. It might not be fast, flashy, or high-capacity, but it is another incremental step forward for hydrogen-powered vehicles, autonomous driving, and the Estonian clean-tech industry. One big part of what makes the vehicle really viable is the development of new low-temperature hydrogen fuel cells at the University of Tartu. “Our next-generation fuel cells operate at significantly lower temperatures than previously available on the market. This ensures a significantly longer life for these devices, and they will also be several times safer.” explains Enn Lust, Director of the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Tartu, Professor of Physical Chemistry The shuttle is capable of autonomous driving both in open spaces and in busy urban areas, and shares the same capabilities as other autonomous vehicles in development from Auve Tech. As well as fully autonomous operation, the shuttle is monitored from and can also, if needed, be controlled from using teleoperation from a remote control centre. Johannes Mossov, the CEO of Auve Tech says the hydrogen shuttle can work as an environmentally friendly alternative for personal vehicles, "The hydrogen in the fuel cells functions as a power source in the vehicle and the only by-products are vaporised water and heat. The fast charging of the vehicle allows more working hours for the vehicle, increasing the efficiency and introducing a way to integrate autonomous transportation to our everyday lives." Whatever your personal feelings about autonomous vehicles, it should be hard for anyone to think of more sustainable public, or private, transport as a bad thing. While they are not necessarily synonymous with sustainable fuel, autonomous vehicles are being trialled and showing promise all over the world and are almost always battery or fuel-cell powered. Not many such vehicles have actually been given road legal status and entered use on public roads so far, so this represents a step forward. Auve are also currently developing another vehicle together with the Estonian ultracapacitor battery company Skeleton Technologies, which will produce a similar shuttle requiring a very short charging time compared to many existing battery powered options.

World first autonomous hydrogen shuttle launches in Estonia

Žaklīna

I like the hydrogen part a lot, but don't know how I feel about self-driving vehicles. Maybe I am old-fashioned but I think I still trust a person driving more and I think I am not lonely in that opinion.

Piri

Žaklīna don't know how I feel about self-driving vehicles

I have that feeling with trains without drivers… a bit scary. But in these kind of trains I saw sometimes drives.

Žaklīna

Piri I have that feeling with trains without drivers… a bit scary.

It is ok for me on like local transit systems where there is nothing else on the track that can have a person make a mistake and where they do not go fast, but for real longer distance fast trains I want to have a driver.

Julie Brooks-Girskiene

Me too, but it's the future I guess.

Treebeard

People disagree but I see a lot of advantages of hydrogen over batteries, and most of all the choice.

If we start to use it in public transport then we get the infrastructure and charging systems for it to be an option for private cars as well

Julie Brooks-Girskiene

John The trains are normally automated, but they can be taken over by a driver if it is needed

Like Žaklīna said, I trust it much more on a track that goes from A to B than on the open road with other traffic around.

John

The DLR (Docklands Light Railway) in London has been running since 1987.

The trains are normally automated, but they can be taken over by a driver if it is needed. In the 33 years that they have been running there have been two accidents, one in testing before the first line opened and one where two trains hit each other. In both cases it was when human drivers had taken over from the automatic systems.

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