BERLIN — The hydrogen-powered Mercedes-Benz GenH2 fuel cell semi returned to the German capital where it was introduced as a prototype three years ago. That is time it accomplished a record 650-mile (1,047-kilometer) overnight journey on a single fillup of liquid hydrogen.
Traveling the autobahns from Woerth am Rhein, the house of Daimler’s massive truck manufacturing complex that produces 500 primarily diesel trucks a day, to the German capital proved far easier than the ultimate mile. A big red utility truck blocked the scheduled arrival at Ministergarten for 10 minutes after the GenH2 passed the famous Brandenburg Gate that separated communist East Germany from democratic West Germany in the course of the Cold War.
Daimler’s video efforts, including a drone, tracked the 88,200-pound tractor-trailer loaded with 55,100 kilos of gravel because it inched along a busy Ebertstrassem, feeding the footage to a big video board erected for the event.
Andreas Gorbach, head of technology for the world’s largest truck maker, drove the ultimate miles, deftly squeezing the truck through a narrow gate onto In den Ministergarten as global media video crews scrambled to search out angles to capture the arrival.
“People weren’t scared the truck would make the 1,000 kilometers. They were scared that I’d damage something while driving in,” Gorbach said with amusing during a FreightWaves interview.
Matching a diesel truck’s performance — absent the emissions
The record-setting run showed a fuel cell truck could match the long-haul capability of a diesel while emitting only environmentally harmless water vapor. Where the fuel and hydrogen infrastructure will come from stays an open query. It’s one which governments and industry in Europe are starting to tackle.
“We do have some green [hydrogen] molecules available today, and we do supply them to mobility at about 30 tons a day here in Europe and more within the U.S.,” said Caroline Stancell, European general manager of hydrogen mobility for Air Products.
With greater than 30 years of experience in fuel cells, mostly for passenger cars, Daimler has turned its focus to heavy-duty trucks with diesel-comparable refilling times and the power to haul heavy loads absent planet-warming emissions. The fuel cell comes from Cellcentric, a three way partnership with Volvo Group established in 2020.
Daimler proved it could field a reliably functional fuel cell truck. But lacking a fueling infrastructure, it’s pointless to start out series production until the second half of the last decade.
“There might be green hydrogen available in large bulk quantities at the tip of 2026 and the start of 2027, which is when a majority of these trucks really come onto the market,” Stancell said.
Sealed to avoid refueling
Throughout the record run on Monday and Tuesday, a serious goal was to avoid refilling the 2 40-kilogram hydrogen tanks mounted on either side of the chassis. TUV Rhineland, a testing organization, affixed seals over the fuel inlet on Monday. The organization confirmed they’d not been tampered with when the truck arrived in Berlin on Tuesday morning.
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Daimler is developing each hydrogen fuel cells and battery-electric trucks. It is usually experimenting with hydrogen fuel for the inner combustion engine on its famous Unimog severe-duty truck. Its goal of carbon neutrality in its major markets — Europe, the U.S. and Japan — by 2039 requires multiple efforts, Gorbach said.
Zero-emission technologies cost far more than diesel, especially to start with. Even with purchase incentives for the dearer trucks and to assist construct infrastructure, the fee of trucking will rise compared with today.
“Customers don’t buy these trucks because they need them,” Gorbach said. “They buy them because they have to. Each [fuel cells and battery-electric trucks] require two ingredients that transcend the truck. The primary is infrastructure. The second is a viable business case.
“It must be on eye level with diesel or higher, such that we get an actual pull from the market.”
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