A fuel cell built for long routes
Bosch has begun several weeks of passenger service trials for its new FCPM C190 fuel cell module, fitted to an Irizar-built bus operated by Spanish transport company Alsa on Madrid’s public transport network. The C190 delivers 190kW of continuous output from a horizontal double-stack configuration, giving the bus a range exceeding 1,000km on a single hydrogen fill and a refuelling time of 10–15 minutes — comparable to a diesel bus, and far shorter than a battery-electric equivalent would need to recharge. Thomas Pauer, a member of the Bosch Mobility sector board, said fuel cells suit buses covering long daily distances with little chance to charge, and described the Madrid trial as proof the technology is ready for series production.
The C190 sits in the middle of a three-module Bosch fuel cell range. The C100, at 100kW and built with a flatter profile, is aimed at city buses with tighter packaging needs; the C300 targets heavy coaches and trucks running longer, higher-load routes. Fuel cells are one part of a broader Bosch hydrogen push that includes the Hybrion PEM electrolysis stack launched in 2025 for producing hydrogen, along with hydrogen engine and injection technology — work that earned the development team Germany’s Future Prize at the end of 2025.
The regulatory push behind it
The timing isn’t incidental. EU rules require a 90% cut in CO2 emissions from newly registered city buses by 2030, measured against 2019 levels, with the same target extending to other bus types from 2040. Fuel cell buses qualify as zero-emission under those rules, giving operators a route to compliance without the charging infrastructure and range compromises battery-electric buses can bring on longer routes. Around 38,000 new buses were registered across the EU in 2025, giving a sense of the scale of fleet renewal now underway.
On paper, Europe has already done policy work most markets haven’t. Under the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, member states must have a hydrogen refuelling station at least every 200km along the core trans-European road network, plus one in every major urban node, each supplying a minimum of one tonne of hydrogen a day, by the end of 2030. Member states are due to submit deployment plans in 2027. That is genuine capital, a funded network, and a deadline — backed by a market large enough to eventually make the economics work.
Delivery is another matter. Germany’s public hydrogen station count has fallen from more than 80 two years ago to 50 now, as operators shift investment toward higher-margin truck refuelling at 350-bar pressure rather than the 700-bar stations passenger vehicles need, and only two hydrogen passenger cars are currently sold in Europe. Bus and truck fleets, running fixed routes back to a depot, are a far more forgiving proving ground than the passenger market — which is likely why Bosch is starting there. Whether the wider station network Europe has promised itself actually arrives on schedule is a question the Madrid trial doesn’t answer.
