Throwback Thursday: Converted Zero Tailpipe Emission Coaches With Toyota Hydrogen Fuel Cell Modules to Be Used at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024

Paris — Toyota, the worldwide mobility partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), will use fuel cell converted coaches to provide transportation to over 5,000 visitors as part of its guest programme during the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

After the Games, the hydrogen coaches will complete their full use cycle, providing service for public and private customers inside the Ile de France region as a legacy of Paris 2024.

Toyota will supply GCK – a group of industrial companies offering technological solutions to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport – with hydrogen fuel cell modules to convert ten used coaches into zero tailpipe emission electric vehicles. The converted coaches will be purchased by B.E. Green – a French company providing carbon-neutral transportation services – who will introduce the hydrogen vehicles into its existing fleet after use at the Games. The first converted long-distance coach with the Toyota fuel cell module was presented today at the RNTP Transport Event in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

During conversion, the diesel engine and gearbox in the front of a coach are replaced with a 370kW electric motor, batteries, and a Toyota TFCM2-B fuel cell module. With this innovative approach and collaboration, Toyota has demonstrated the flexibility of its fuel cell modules and the potential of converting traditional transport into zero tailpipe emission vehicles.

Thiebault Paquet, Vice President Toyota Motor Europe, Hydrogen Factory: “The conversion of coaches into fuel cell electric vehicles is another important step towards achieving carbon neutrality in the transport sector. This co-operation perfectly illustrates how hydrogen applications benefit all business stakeholders and become long-term solutions. All ten fuel cell coaches will allow Toyota to transport guests during Paris 2024 with zero tailpipe emissions. We’d like to thank our partners for their combined efforts – being pioneers and accelerators of the hydrogen society, while making this possible in time for the Games”