Can Chile's first hydrogen bus reshape the future of long-distance travel?

Chile revealed the first hydrogen-powered bus produced in the country on December 11, in a ceremony that was attended by President Gabriel Boric, along with representatives of the public and private sectors.

The project, which was developed over a year through a public-private partnership, involved the manufacture of a vehicle with capacity for 30 passengers and a range of 600km using hydrogen cells and electric batteries, with a maximum speed of 90km/h.

It is part of efforts to promote green hydrogen development and production across the country.

BNamericas speaks with Felipe Cevallos and Ricardo Repenning, respectively the CEO and technology manager of Reborn Electric Motors, the company responsible for building the bus, to find out more.

BNamericas: How did building a green hydrogen bus differ from the work Reborn Electric Motors usually does?

Repenning: From a technological perspective, the main difference is the vehicle's range, which is double that of a battery-powered vehicle, without having to add extra weight.

In terms of construction complexity, the biggest challenge was dealing with hydrogen as a flammable gas. We had to carefully plan the hydrogen pipes, choose the right materials, select the safety systems and tanks, and establish all the necessary safety protocols for the assembly and maintenance teams.

Another challenge involved programming the bus's software to manage when to activate the hydrogen cells to power the motors and when to rely on the battery instead.

BNamericas: What was the investment required for this project?

Cevallos: The total investment was US$750,000. About a third came from [development agency] Corfo, another third from Anglo American via Fundación Chile and the final third from Colbún.

The most expensive components were the hydrogen cells and the vehicle's bodywork.

Another major expense was the engineering aspect, which made the project very resource-intensive in terms of human capital. As Ricardo mentioned earlier, there were significant technical challenges requiring highly specialized engineering work.

BNamericas: What are Reborn Electric Motors' plans after completing this project?

Repenning: Regarding hydrogen technology, we still need to certify the bus according to the transport ministry's standards and continue intensive testing throughout 2025. The goal is to eventually implement a fleet of these hydrogen vehicles.

More broadly, Reborn Electric is also looking to expand our electric vehicle technology, which has already been proved in the mining sector, into new regions.

We have a team operating in Antarctica, but we’re aiming to take our buses to rural public transportation in cities with challenging geographies that require the kind of robust design we specialize in.

Cevallos: Although converting diesel vehicles to electric ones is what initially put us on the map, we’re now focused on building vehicles from scratch.

Since completing the fleet of buses for the El Teniente mine, we’ve concentrated on manufacturing 100% electric buses.

BNamericas: The business manager of Sotraser, a transport firm that introduced a hydrogen truck to Chile, mentioned that adopting this technology will be quite slow due to high costs and a lack of incentives. How long do you think it will take for hydrogen to become competitive?

Cevallos: It really depends on the application. In urban transport, hydrogen has a hard time competing with batteries because the routes are short and there are charging stations nearby.

For long-distance travel, though, where greater range is needed, a traditional electric vehicle would require more batteries, reducing its passenger capacity.

We also need hydrogen prices to drop, but technically, hydrogen makes sense for long-distance projects.

Repenning: There’s potential for intercity buses – like routes from Santiago to Antofagasta. It’s hard to make that trip with zero emissions using just batteries.