Saint-Pierre-d’Albigny, 10th February 2022 – Green Corp Konnection (GCK) has confirmed its growth trajectory and rapid development for 2022. A few days after having received a historic order, providing hydrogen powered snow groomers and buses for the l’Alpe d’Huez ski resort, GCK announced an agreement with the Ginhoux transport company for the largest delivery of hydrogen-powered retrofitted coaches for public and interurban transport in France.
Established since 1830 in Ardèche, the Ginhoux company is the oldest French public transport company. It operates today inter-urban mobility lines, wether for school transport, with 6,000 pupils served daily, or for passenger transport. As a pioneer of tomorrow’s mobility, the company continues with these retroffited coaches order its long lasting tradition as a forerunner.
As the first step of this landmark contract, GCK Industry, a CGK’s subsidiary, will convert an IvecoBus Crossway coach from Ginhoux’s existing fleet. The internal combustion engine will be removed and replaced by a 295kW electric motor powered by a fuel cell with a maximum output of 150kW.By onboarding 50kg of hydrogen at 700 bars, this vehicle will have an autonomy of 500km.
Assembled in GCK’s new 2’500 m² factory in Auvergne, and tested on the legendary Charade car-racing track, the vehicle will be presented in autumn 2022. Its commercial launch is scheduled for September 2023, after having been approved to UTAC standards and tested for more than 5,000km. The next hydrogen-powered retrofitted coaches are scheduled to be produced from January 2024 onwards, and are part of hydrogen stations’ implementation in Ardèche.
GCK and Ginhoux’s conviction is simple: the deployment of hydrogen mobility in France will require the development of sustainable and complet ecosystems, thanks to production sites and supply stations enabling such vehicles to be powered throughout the country.
For Éric Boudot, Managing Director of GCK: “The beginning of this year holds all its promises for GCK! The company is proud to benefit from the expertise and sturdiness of such a historic player in the transport sector as Ginhoux. We are receiving historic orders because our knowledge in zero-carbon mobility is recognized by both public authorities and transport operators. I am convinced that nothing can be done without the boldness of private operators, who are committing themselves to hydrogen and taking the entire value chain with them”.
For Bruno Ginhoux, Chief Executive Officer of Autocars Ginhoux: “Our company is increasingly concerned about the environement, the regulatory changes it implies, and all the new topics accompanying them. The wealth of experience acquired over the years is one of the strengths of Ginhoux transport in this area. The deployment of hydrogen mobility through retrofitted vehicles requires the validation of numerous points regarding passenger safety and the reliability of the process. This is why we have placed our trust in the professionalism and motivation of GCK to successfully develop this project. Our technical staff dedicated to this project (Mr Bruno Moulin and Mr Richard Maurel) will support the GCK engineers in validating the integrality of operations. We will pay particular attention to the dynamic tests (more than 5,000 km) during 2022. A 30-point safety label will also be introduced”.