Barcelona, September 19, 2025 – Barcelona has unveiled its first diesel bus converted into a zero-emission hydrogen vehicle, a pioneering project made possible through innovation funding from EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
The project, known as HERO – Hydrogen Retrofit, received €460,000 from EIT Urban Mobility’s 2024 innovation call. The funding enabled Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), in collaboration with Catalan company EVARM and German fuel cell manufacturer EKPO, to convert a conventional diesel minibus into a clean vehicle powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
Unlike traditional electric buses that rely on large batteries requiring overnight charging, the retrofitted vehicle operates with a smaller 35 kWh battery continuously recharged by a 120 kW fuel cell. The system generates electricity onboard by combining hydrogen with oxygen from the air, emitting only water vapour. (....)