As truck manufacturers produce a growing range of battery electric HGVs to decarbonise road transport, the development of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles continues at pace – and increasingly in the van sector, as evident with four brands launching hydrogen LCV models at IAA Transportation in Hanover this week.
The rise of hydrogen vehicle innovation across Europe follows series of recent and current hydrogen trials which provide a clear indication that the technology will have a role in specialist markets, particularly heavy haulage, construction, tanker and timber transport.
They may also provide an alternative to battery electric trucks in areas without sufficient charging infrastructure or in markets where sufficient hydrogen is already available.
Earlier this month, Project ICEBreaker, delivered by a consortium of leading British engineering companies, unveiled a fully configured hydrogen fuel-cell HGV truck, developed over a 12-month period.
The project has brought together the hydrogen engineering expertise of Viritech, HORIBA MIRA and Intelligent Energy, with funding from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK’s Advanced Route to Market Demonstrator competition.
Jointly they have developed a drivetrain solution with the fuel-cells as the prime mover, supported by a small 16 kWh battery with 400kW charge/discharge capacity and fuel-cell optimised DC-DC converters.
A pair of Intelligent Energy DRIVE HD100 fuel-cells operating in parallel deliver 200kW of primary motive power.
HORIBA MIRA has also been able to build total cost of ownership forecasts for ICEBreaker in parallel with the prototype design and build, so the engineering is tailored to operators’ commercial considerations.
Timothy Lyons, Viritech’s CEO said: “In less than 12 months, our combined experience has enabled us to jointly develop an engineering process to design, plan and integrate the operation of a hydrogen drivetrain for commercial vehicles.
“We’re confident that this project will deliver important insights that will be of great use to the industry as it embraces hydrogen to tackle forthcoming emissions regulations.”
Daimler Truck has begun customer trials in Germany with INEOS Inovyn, Amazon, Air Products, Holcim and Wiedmann & Winz, using a heavy duty liquid hydrogen truck.
The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 vehicle has a range of more than 621 miles and is able to carry the same payload as a conventional diesel vehicle.
INEOS transports nearly three million tonnes of PVC per year and, over the next 12 months, it will make about 250 customer deliveries across the Rheinberg area to pilot fuel-cell technology in real-life operations.
The ambition for INEOS is to expand deliveries into Belgium and the Netherlands next year.
Wouter Bleukx, Business Director Hydrogen at INEOS Inovyn said: “Hydrogen is a game-changing energy solution that will transform truck transportation and help us achieve a zero-emission future.
“As both a major producer and consumer of low-carbon hydrogen, INEOS is in a unique position to help drive this change.”
Meanwhile, Netherlands-based VDL Groep has developed a heavy duty hydrogen fuel-cell demonstration truck using Toyota fuel-cell modules which combine hydrogen (H₂) and oxygen (O₂) molecules into water while simultaneously generating electricity.
As a result, the only tailpipe emission is water.
The hydrogen system’s lower weight allows heavier payloads to be carried and the trucks can be filled up with hydrogen just as quickly as they are with diesel.
Toyota has begun testing the vehicle with Coca-Cola as part of the beverage company’s supply operations, with Air Liquide supplying hydrogen for the project.
In addition, VDL has built a handful of other fuel-cell trucks, which will be used by Toyota’s logistics providers – VOS Transport Group, CEVA, Groupe CAT and Yusen – on their daily routes in Belgium, France and Netherlands.
The four routes each have at least one hydrogen refuelling station together with back-up provisions if required.
Thiebault Pacquet, Vice President R&D, Toyota Motor Europe, said: “To help speed up the expansion of hydrogen technology implementation in our society, we are expanding the use of our Toyota Fuel-cell Module beyond passenger cars and into trucks, buses, coaches, trains, boats, near-shore and short-sea vessels, stationary generators and so on.
“The insights gained from these proofs-of-concept will serve as crucial milestones on our path towards achieving zero tailpipe carbon emissions in our logistics operations by 2040.”
Volvo Trucks is beginning on-road tests with trucks using hydrogen in combustion engines in 2026, with the commercial launch planned towards the end of this decade.
Also, DAF has a technology demonstrator New Generation DAF XF with hydrogen internal combustion engine which it expects to be ready for commercialisation within the coming years.
MAN Truck & Bus is to supply an initial small series of about 200 heavy duty hydrogen trucks for customers in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland and selected non-European countries from 2025.
The company said its hTGX is suitable for special transport tasks that require a special axle configuration or where there is no space for the battery on the frame due to the need for truck bodywork.
It offers high payloads and maximum ranges of up to 373 miles in its initially offered 6×2 and 6×4 axle variants.
The H45 hydrogen combustion engine used has an output of 383 kW or 520 hp and a torque of 2500 Nm at 900 to 1300 rpm, while direct injection of hydrogen into the engine ensures particularly fast power delivery.
With hydrogen compressed to 700 bar (CG H2) and a tank capacity of 56 kg, the vehicle can be refuelled in less than 15 minutes.
Friedrich Baumann, Executive Board Member of MAN Truck & Bus and responsible for Sales & Customer Solution said: “We anticipate that we will be able to best serve the vast majority of our customers’ transport applications with battery-powered trucks.
“However, for special applications, hydrogen combustion or, in the future, fuel-cell technology is a suitable supplement.
“The use of familiar technology enables us to enter the market at an early stage and thus provides a decisive impetus for the ramp-up of the hydrogen infrastructure.”
Due to the support and hard work of truck manufacturers, technology companies, and customers, it is clear that hydrogen power has a big role to play in the decarbonisation of road transport over the coming years.
