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Heavy trucks equipped with hydrogen capable of driving long distances are likely to reach the end of the decade, according to the heads of the world’s two largest truckers.
Martin Daum, president of the Daimler Truck industry, told the Financial Times that although diesel trucks will dominate sales over the next three to four years, hydrogen will be considered a fuel between 2027 and 2030 before it starts “uphill”.
Martin Lundstedt, CEO of the Volvo Group, who recently bought a hydrogen joint venture with Daimler, said there will be a “much harder rise” by the end of the decade after fuel cell production begins in 2025.
The target is the Swedish truck driver Half of European sales In 2030 they could be batteries or trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells, while both groups want to have a completely zero emission by 2040.
Daimler Truck’s Martin Daum, left, and Volvo’s Martin Lundstedt © Daimler AG
Cellcentric, a joint German and Swedish team, will start producing fuel cells in 2025. The two truck manufacturers will use electric batteries mainly for small trucks as well as heavier single-place vehicles that can be charged overnight.
But hydrogen is essential for heavy long-haul trucks crossing Europe, the US and other parts of the world, where goods are transported to multiple destinations and where fuel supply stops should be as short as possible.
Daum, who predicted that the distribution between hydrogen and battery sales would be around 50-50, said “a large amount of energy is needed to climb a 40-ton hill” and that diesel is the most efficient fuel for such tasks. , hydrogen was the best choice.
“Fuel cells and hydrogen will play a very important role,” Lundstedt added.
The two men called on governments to ensure that there is the necessary fuel infrastructure for hydrogen, as well as to give transportation companies enough incentive to switch to greener trucks.
The high-performance 300 hydrogen supply would require about 300 in Europe by 2025 and 1,000 by 2030, the companies said.
Regarding the need to build infrastructure for trucks at the same time, Lundstedt said: “It can be seen as chicken and egg. But we have said that we will support it. We will deliver the chicken. Someone else can lay an egg. “
Cylindrical works intensively to prepare fuel cell production © Daimler AG
Accepting that hydrogen and battery-powered trucks would be more expensive than diesel-powered ones “for at least the next 15 years,” Daum said customers typically spend three to four times more on fuel during the life of a truck than on the vehicle itself.
He added that the first recipient – who would otherwise have to “pay the penalty” with high prices, could help with the government’s help through the EU’s green deal or other incentives. But he said by 2027, the right price for CO2 would be better because there would be too many trucks for subsidies.
Lundstedt stressed that the commitment of truck manufacturers is also important to help develop green hydrogen, which is made using renewable energy rather than natural gas, as is common today, as other heavy industries such as shipping and steel take up fuel. “This joint venture is a clean stick on the ground,” the truckers said.
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