A world premiere: Iveco Bus Crossway has been retrofitted to hydrogen (and approved) by GCK Mobility

An Iveco Bus Crossway – the best-selling Class II in Europe – has been retrofitted with a hydrogen fuel cell by a GCK Mobility workshop at the Cournon (Puy-de-Dôme) site in France. The vehicle has been approved for road production, which will enable its mass production.

Iveco’s in-house intercity bus has been equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell installed in the engine compartment, which powers the batteries of the electric motor. In terms of performance, the bus has a range of 500 km, with a charging time of about 15 to 20 minutes.

This milestone marks a significant step forward in GCK’s development, and after several months of research and development, the company is now launching production industrialization in early 2024, with more than 100 vehicles already under contract with several customers.

Christophe Béchu, Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, presented Philippe Jacques, CEO of GCK Mobility (Green Corp Konnection Group), with the type approval certificate, having passed all UTAC and CNRV type approval tests.

Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion: «We believed very early on in the potential of the hydrogen sector. Because it offers solutions for decarbonizing mobility, but also because it is part of a fundamental movement to reindustrialize our regions. With this first hydrogen retrofitted bus from GCK that has been approved for series production we are showing that France is on the right track, and it was important for me to come here to Clermont Ferrand to deliver this certificate of approval».

Eric Boudot, President of GCK echoed him: «I would like to congratulate the GCK Mobility teams, who have worked for several months in collaboration with UTAC and CNRV to obtain this approval. I thank Minister Christophe Béchu for the official presentation of this certificate, which is an important milestone for the group and demonstrates the support of the government. We are ready to launch our solutions for large-scale transport decarbonization. 2024 will be the year of industrialization and realization of all R&D investments made by the Group since its creation».