With regards to zero-emission medium and heavy vehicles, we have heard during the past few years that battery electric commercial trucks will ultimately replace the diesel-powered internal combustion engine for commercial trucks. At some point in the future this might be true for short and regional haul freight carriers but what about the long-haul heavy truck segment?
Currently, the lack of charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the extreme weights associated with the batteries will be a significant deterrent to mass adoption of long-haul battery electric trucks. However, hydrogen fuel cell trucks for long-haul applications appear to be a viable option in this segment. Even though fuel cell trucks currently have a greater range and lighter weight than battery electric trucks, they have the same problem as electric trucks due to a lack of a power infrastructure.
In 2022 there were approximately 250 operational hydrogen re-fueling stations in Europe. Earlier this year, the EU nations agreed to add hydrogen re-fueling stations in all major cities and every 200km on the major routes. The plan is to have complete network coverage by 2030. The EU will likely provide subsidies for the infrastructure, but it will be the private sector that will likely drive this. There are numerous joint ventures surrounding hydrogen infrastructure and below are a few notable ones.
In 2021, Shell and Daimler announced the rollout of a hydrogen-based trucking initiative in which Shell will initially establish a hydrogen-refueling network which joins the Port of Rotterdam with Cologne and Hamburg thus creating an infrastructure corridor while Daimler plans to introduce hydrogen fuel cell trucks to customers starting in 2025. The corridor is expected to include 1,200 kilometers with 150 hydrogen re-fueling stations. Daimler plans to introduce approximately 5,000 heavy duty fuel cell trucks by 2030.
In April 2021, Daimler and Volvo announced a joint venture known as Cellcentric to jointly manufacture hydrogen fuel cells for trucks in Europe starting in 2025 and they called upon the European Union policymakers to boost incentives for climate-neutral technologies.
The plan is to begin testing the fuel cell trucks by 2025 and launch mass production by the end of this decade. Daimler and Volvo have also cited the need for 300 high-performance hydrogen refueling stations for heavy-duty vehicles by 2025 and 1,000 stations by 2030. Both companies have stated that battery electric trucks will work for short haul applications, but hydrogen fuel cells should play a major role in the longer haul segment.
Last year, the EU announced that in some circumstances natural gas will be considered a “green” energy which will benefit production of hydrogen fuel. Prior to this announcement, it would have been very difficult to produce enough “green” hydrogen to support the type of fueling infrastructure required for mass adoption of hydrogen fueled vehicles.
In North America, the path for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is not so clear. Currently, there are 62 hydrogen fueling stations in the United States and Canada most of which are located in California. The sheer size of the United States and Canada make it challenging to develop a significant re-fueling infrastructure in the near to mid-term.
In October 2021, Nikola signed a memorandum of understanding with Opal Fuels to build and operate hydrogen fueling stations across North America. Under the preliminary agreement, the two companies will work to co-develop the technology necessary to accelerate the adoption of fuel-cell electric vehicles.
Also in 2021, Nikola and Travel Centers of America (TA) agreed to collaborate on the installation of hydrogen fueling stations for heavy-duty trucks at two existing TA stations. This collaboration is a first step for the parties to explore the mutual development of a nationwide network of hydrogen fueling stations.
Nikola’s original plan was to develop a network of about 700 hydrogen stations in the U.S. and Canada to support its Class 8 fuel cell trucks which recently started production at their Coolidge plant in Arizona.
Last year, congress introduced the “Hydrogen for Trucks Act” to support the adoption of heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fueling stations. This act would incentivize the adoption of heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by covering the cost difference between these vehicles and traditional diesel vehicles and encourage parallel deployment of vehicles and fueling stations.
The act would also provide data and benchmarks for different types of fleet operations, thereby incentivizing private investment and accelerating deployment. PSR
Chris Fisher is Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst at Power Systems Research
