Skeleton Technologies - the global technology leader in ultracapacitor energy storage in automotive, transportation, grid, and industrial applications – today announced cooperation with Wrightbus, a leading bus OEM headquartered in Northern Ireland, in which the company will supply its next generation high energy ultracapacitor modules to power fuel cell buses in the UK. Their two times higher energy density is enabled by Skeleton’s latest material technology innovation, making them an ideal addition to hydrogen fuel cells in emissions-free transportation. 
Commenting on this announcement, Taavi Madiberk, CEO and co-founder of Skeleton Technologies, said: “Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are of high strategic importance to lower CO2 emissions and fight against climate change. Skeleton’s ultracapacitors are one of the key enablers of the hydrogen economy. Since fuel cells are not able to recuperate the braking energy and re-use it for acceleration, they need efficient energy storage devices to improve overall system efficiency and total cost of ownership. Combining ultracapacitors and fuel cells will speed up the market adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Wrightbus is at the forefront of development of hydrogen vehicles and we are very excited to work with one of the most ambitious companies in the sector. We see a clear potential of 1000 buses in the next 5 years. Based on the technology and its underlying economics, we have reason to believe that all hydrogen powered trucks and buses could eventually adopt our products.”
Wrightbus Chairman Jo Bamford added: “For hydrogen buses, Wrightbus is working with world-class leaders, such as Ballard Power for fuel cells and Skeleton Technologies for ultracapacitors. Ultracapacitors and fuel cells are the ideal combination for better performance and lower cost of ownership but until now ultracapacitors were lacking in energy density. Skeleton's Curved Graphene technology brings these needed improvements by doubling the energy density of ultracapacitors, and will therefore strongly contribute to the wide scale adoption of fuel-cell electric buses.”
This is the first commercial release of Skeleton’s next-generation high-energy ultracapacitors, based on material technology innovation, which allows to combine the highest power density in the market with an energy density 2 times higher than the closest competitors, including Tesla. Hybridization of fuel cell vehicles with ultracapacitors reduces the stress on fuel cells and benefits the vehicles’ fuel economy, allowing them to function more efficiently and increasing the overall range of the system.
Wrightbus is a founding member of the H2Bus Consortium, announced in June 2019 and focused on deployment of at least 1,000 zero-emission Fuel Cell Electric Buses and related infrastructure in European cities at commercially competitive rates. Earlier this year, the U.K. Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) announced a 5-year, £5 billion (US$6.4 billion) plan to enhance bus and bicycle infrastructure in the U.K.
