Daimler Truck has demonstrated the possibilities of hydrogen fuel-cell technology for long-haul road transportation with the company’s Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck covering 1,047km on one tank of liquid hydrogen.
Powered by a cellcentric (a joint venture company between Daimler Truck and Volvo Group) fuel-cell system and equipped with a liquid hydrogen fuel tank set-up, the truck completed the run fully loaded with a gross combined vehicle weight of 40 tons under real-life conditions.
Daimler Truck says it prefers liquid hydrogen in the development of hydrogen-based drives. In this state, the company says the energy carrier has a significantly higher energy density in relation to volume compared to gaseous hydrogen. As a result, more hydrogen can be carried, increasing the range and enabling comparable performance of the vehicle with that of a conventional diesel truck.
The company has said that battery-electric trucks are the ideal choice for distribution haulage as well as for long-distance haulage with regular deployment on plannable routes with suitable distances and charging options. However, hydrogen-based drives could be a better solution, especially for very flexible and particularly demanding deployments in heavy-duty transport and long-distance haulage. It adds that it is convinced that rapid and cost-optimised coverage of this energy demand can only be achieved with both technologies.
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (October 2023)
11 October 2023