FCC Medio Ambiente has received the World Smart City Award in the Energy and Urban Environment category for its ‘Urban-service H2-cell chassis’ project at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2024, recently held in Barcelona. The innovative equipment consists of a Heavy- Duty Vehicle Chassis-Platform for Urban Service Applications powered by a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell and lithium-ion battery system, with a low forward and panoramic cabin, which is applicable to all urban service activities. The company has won in competition with several very high-level projects. The award was accepted by Íñigo Sanz, CEO of FCC Medio Ambiente, for whom this project is ‘an example of teamwork and of the importance of innovation, which has been in the DNA of this company for over 110 years, in achieving the objectives of our 2050 Sustainability Strategy, a roadmap for business development based on sustainable growth’.

The project, called ‘H2TRUCK’, has been led by FCC Medio Ambiente and developed with the Irizar Group in partnership with companies and academic and technological entities of great relevance in the automotive sector. It has received state recognition and support through the Sustainable Automotive Technology Programme (PTAS, from its acronym in Spanish), within the framework of the funding granted by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) and supported by the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Science and Innovation, as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by the European Union.

The first implementation of the platform has been developed for a collection vehicle with a state-of-the-art side-loading bodywork. The prototype vehicle is already in operation and has been undergoing test runs for a few months, with an H2 battery that enables the waste collection service to be carried out without polluting emissions. With a comparatively small battery, it significantly improves on the limitations of ‘pure’ electric vehicles (charging times, limited range, weight of large batteries, etc.). The vehicle, whose world premiere took place on the 6^th November, was on display at Tomorrow Mobility’s D-185 stand.

FCC Medio Ambiente, which provides environmental services to 67 million people in more than 5,400 municipalities in eleven countries, has been researching electric mobility for over 50 years. It currently boasts a fleet of 20,000 vehicles, including more than 3,600 ecological units, 1,600 of which are electric.