In Madrid, a bus from the Spanish manufacturer Irizar is transporting passengers through the Spanish capital for several weeks, powered by a Bosch fuel cell system. The operator is the bus company Alsa. The vehicle is primarily intended for use on longer routes, where the range of the fuel cell drive comes into play.
The Fuel Cell Power Module (FCPM) C190 from Bosch is used. The system is based on a horizontal double stack and delivers a continuous output of 190 kilowatts. With the available hydrogen tank volume, ranges of over 1,000 kilometers are possible, and refueling times are between ten and 15 minutes. This makes the bus suitable for intercity traffic, according to Bosch.
In recent weeks, the test vehicle has undergone extensive testing and homologation, i.e., official approval. The real operation now starting is intended to confirm the robustness of the drive under everyday conditions, according to Bosch.
Can Bosch catch up with the specialists?
Technologically, the key data is not revolutionary. Fuel cell buses from specialized providers are already on the roads in various European cities. Regionalverkehr Köln (RVK) has over 100 hydrogen buses from Solaris and Wrightbus in operation. According to RVK, this largest fleet of hydrogen buses in Europe to date was launched in 2022 through a funding program. Models from Caetanobus with fuel cells from Toyota are also in operation in several major cities.
One peculiarity lies in the company structure. The previous providers are specialists in niche products. Now Bosch, as a large Tier-1 company, is trying to bring a fuel cell drive to market that can be industrially scaled. There are not many direct competitors in this field. Hyundai focuses its fuel cells primarily on its own vehicles and the Asian market. Toyota has a lot of fuel cell experience for smaller vehicles but has now joined the joint venture Cellcentric for the high-performance drives.
Electric bus specialist relies on fuel cell for long-distance
Also noteworthy is the Basque bus manufacturer Irizar. With around 1,000 buses produced annually, it is not exactly a market leader but consistently relies on environmentally friendly drives. This also includes a whole range of battery-electric city buses. So why suddenly a fuel cell drive?
"The fuel cell is the perfect complement to the battery-electric drive—even in bus operation," explains Thomas Pauer, member of the sector board Bosch Mobility and chairman of the Bosch Power Solutions board. "The fuel cell is particularly suitable for buses that travel longer distances daily and have little opportunity to charge on the road. With the test operation, we can impressively demonstrate that Bosch's fuel cell technology is ready for demanding series use in passenger transport."
The perspective for Irizar may not lie in the city at all, but in intercity travel—as Bosch has already indicated in the deployment options. Irizar does not yet have a battery-electric model in its range of coaches. They run on HVO, natural gas, biodiesel, or even conventional fossil diesel. Irizar presented a fuel cell coach with a targeted range of 1,000 km as a prototype at the FIAA in Madrid in 2024. In spring 2025, it completed a test drive of 2,500 km, achieving a range of 900 km. Irizar has not yet named the supplier of the fuel cell module.
Bosch: Hydrogen technologies with ups and downs
The fuel cell division at Bosch has already experienced some ups and downs. After early developments in the 1990s and 2000s, little was heard until the company re-entered at the end of the 2010s. Bosch worked on stationary SOFC fuel cells but exited this business in 2024. The development of models for mobile use continued, with truck manufacturer Nikola as an anchor customer—who went bankrupt in 2025. But the year was not all bad for Bosch: A Bosch development team for the mobile fuel cell was awarded the German Future Prize of the Federal President for Technology and Innovation at the end of 2025.
Now, in addition to the FCPM C190, Bosch offers the FCPM C300 system for heavy coaches and trucks. The portfolio is complemented by the FCPM C100 with 100 kilowatts of continuous power and a flat design, which, according to the manufacturer, is suitable for city buses.
For city buses, the EU is putting more pressure than for intercity buses: The CO2 emissions of newly registered city buses must decrease by 90 percent by 2030 compared to the reference year 2019. For all other bus types, this requirement applies from 2040. The EU recognizes fuel cell vehicles as "zero-emission" vehicles. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), over 38,000 buses were newly registered in the EU in 2025.
Since 2025, the PEM electrolysis stack Hybrion has also been part of Bosch's range.
In addition, Bosch is working on technology for hydrogen engines and offers components for intake manifold and direct injection.
