Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck News

NORTH AMERICA REPORT
Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

During the past few years there has been plenty of talk about battery electric power replacing diesel-powered internal combustion engines in commercial trucks.  At some point this might be true for short and regional haul freight carriers, but what about the long-haul heavy truck segment? 

Currently, the lack of a sufficient charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the extreme weights associated with the batteries are significant deterrents 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: a lack of refueling infrastructure.

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Winter is Coming…(and Consumers are Ready). Q3 2019 Report

SUMMARY: Gen-set sales in Q3 2019 rose 7% from Q2 2019, due to a continued strong demand for standby power systems. Standby systems in both the residential and commercial sectors drove the 7% growth (the highest QoQ growth of the year so far), with the 10-20kW range increasing sales by nearly 12% and the 21-50kW, 51-100, and 101-300kW ranges growing 5-7%.

On a Year-on-Year basis, overall unit sales for Q3 2019 were up 2.9% compared to sales levels in Q3 2018.

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell MH Commercial Vehicle Update

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

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.

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Bosch Qingling Builds Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant

CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao
Jack Hao

Bosch Qingling has begun construction on Bosch’s first R & D Center for hydrogen fuel production in the world, a national hydrogen fuel cell engine production base and a national hydrogen energy commercial vehicle production base.

The hydrogen fuel cell engine project is being built jointly by Bosch (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and Qingling Group, with a total investment of about US$ 470 million (2.98 billion yuan).

Bosch predicts that by 2030, about 12.5% of new commercial vehicles in the world will be powered by fuel cell vehicles. In order to further promote the industrialization of hydrogen power in China, Bosch began to lay out the construction of a new plant in. At present, it has completed the preparations such as overall planning and design, and officially started construction today.

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Cummins Accelera Delivers Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck

CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao
Jack Hao

Accelera and Shaanxi Auto’s Dechuang Future have jointly developed a 31-ton Hydrogen fuel battery residue vehicle. Sixty Cummins Accelera Hydrogen fuel cell driven muck trucks were delivered and put into operation in Shanghai.

It is reported that this vehicle is matched with Cummins 125kW Hydrogen fuel battery engine system and 127kWh Lithium iron phosphate power battery, and uses the 410kW drive motor and AMT automatic transmission with ultra-low system energy consumption independently developed by Dechuang in the future to form a “new energy power chain,” so that the vehicle’s power performance indicators such as maximum speed, hill starting ability, climbing ability, loading capacity, etc. are higher than the industry average.

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Ammonia-Powered Fuel Cell Developed for Deep Sea Shipping

ShipFC is the project financed by the Union European program Horizon 2020 and Hydrogen Europe aiming to prove that fuel cells powered by green ammonia can meet the strict IMO standards of zero-emission Deep Sea shipping.

Currently, a 100% zero-emission solution is not available in this segment. Batteries do not last longue enough with a size that can fit a ship onboard, and Hydrogen technology has some other challenging issues to resolve. Alternative fuel solutions are promising but still need to be tested, confirmed, and approved by DNA.

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Kubota Unveils First Fuel Cell Tractor

JAPAN REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

On March 28, Kubota unveiled the first prototype of a fuel cell-powered tractor. Although no release date has been set, the company will consider installing fuel cells in unmanned, automated tractors. Kubota is also developing battery-powered agricultural equipment, but the company believes that hydrogen-powered fuel cells will be effective for medium-large sized agricultural equipment.

Kubota is rushing to commercialize fuel cells because it believes demand will grow in developed countries such as Japan, Europe and the United States as a result of the trend toward decarbonization. The prototype machine has about 60 horsepower and has three hydrogen tanks installed above the cabin, which are used in Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell car. It generates electricity by reacting hydrogen with oxygen to power the engine. In the experiment, a tractor was equipped with a plowing unit to till the soil.

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Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck Happenings in Europe

Chris Fisher
Chris Fisher

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. 

Read More»