Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2021
Hydrogen is a promising fuel to fulfil climate goals and future legislation requirements due to its carbon-free property. Especially hydrogen fueled buses and heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) strongly move into the foreground. In contrast to the hydrogen-based fuel cell technology, which is already in commercial use, vehicles with hydrogen internal combustion engines (H2-ICE) are also a currently pursued field of research, representing a potentially holistic carbon-free drive train. Real applications of H2-ICE vehicles are currently not known but can be expected, since their suitability is put to test in a few insolated projects at this time. This paper provides a literature survey to reflect the current state of H2-ICEs focused on city buses. An extended view to HDVs and fuel cell technology allows to recognize trends in hydrogen transport sector, to identify further research potential and to derive useful conclusion. In addition, within this paper we apply green MAGIC as a holistic approach and discuss Well-to-Tank green hydrogen supply in relation to a H2-ICE city bus. Building on that, we introduce the upcoming Hydrogen-bus project, where tests of H2-ICE buses in real driving mode are foreseen to investigate Tank-to-Wheel.