Daimler Truck: GenH2 truck enters customer trials
Daimler Truck is starting the customer-oriented testing of five Mercedes-Benz GenH2 trucks with Air Products, Amazon, Holcim, Ineos, and Wiedmann & Winz. “After a rigorous testing phase on the test track and public roads, the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Trucks have now reached an advanced development stage for deployment in the first customer fleets,” the manufacturer announced.
Customer trials are an integral part of the development programme for a new model at Daimler Truck. The first units of the battery-electric eActros 600 were delivered to test customers in April, specifically to Contargo and Remondis. While the eActros 600 has already been fitted with the new, futuristic ‘ProCabin’ of the Actros L, the test vehicles of the GenH2 truck still use the cabin design of the combustion-powered Actros that has been familiar for years.
A brief look at the technology: at the heart of the GenH2 truck are two fuel cell systems from the Cellcentric joint venture with a system output of 300 kW (2x 150 kW). A 70 kWh battery also provides up to 400 kW for a limited period of time. It is used for peak demands during acceleration or when travelling uphill. In a pre-series version, the two electric motors are designed for a total of 2 x 230 kW continuous and 2 x 330 kW maximum output. The torque is 2 x 1,577 Nm and 2 x 2,071 Nm, respectively. Daimler Truck also says the cooling and heating system is “a core element of the sophisticated operating strategy of the fuel-cell and battery system.” As this system keeps all components at the correct operating temperature, the system’s longevity should increase.
Unlike the customer trials of the eActros 300 or 600, which can be charged at any CCS station, the trials of the GenH2 trucks are closely linked to the infrastructure. For its fuel cell truck, Daimler Truck relies on cryogenic liquid hydrogen (sLH2), which is -253 degrees centigrade. Liquid hydrogen has a higher energy density than gaseous hydrogen, which is stored in vehicles at a pressure of 350 or 700 bar. The vehicles’ two 44-kilogram tanks are not actively cooled, but are vacuum-insulated like oversized thermos flasks to prevent the hydrogen from heating up (and consequently vaporising). The vehicles can currently only be refuelled at two special filling stations for sLH2 in Wörth am Rhein (Rhineland-Palatinate) and in the Duisburg area (North Rhine-Westphalia). Linde is the partner for the refuelling stations.
From these fixed points, the five vehicles will be deployed “in different long-haul applications on specific routes in Germany.” Amazon will use the GenH2 truck in its logistics network in Germany, Air Products for the transport of bottled gases, Wiedmann & Winz for sea containers, Holcim for building materials logistics and Vervaeke, the logistics company of Ineos, for PVC and vinyl transport.
During the approximately one-year test phase, test customers can gain practical experience in transport with fuel cell trucks. On the other hand, the Daimler truck development team gains “valuable insights into the real-life operations of trucks powered by liquid hydrogen, learns about specific customer requirements and can take them into account for series development,” the company says. The vehicle is expected to have a range of over 1,000 kilometres, as Daimler Truck demonstrated last September: a road-legal prototype travelled 1,047 kilometres on one tank of fuel.
Daimler Truck emphasises that it is focusing on battery-electric and hydrogen-based drives in parallel. “With regard to hydrogen drives, we are now taking another important step towards series readiness: we are starting the trials of our Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Trucks in real-life daily transport operations with our customers,” says Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum. “However, it is important to note that high-performance CO2-neutral vehicles alone will not be enough to make sustainable transportation successful. This also requires a corresponding charging and refueling infrastructure, as well as cost parity with conventional vehicles. Although policymakers and energy companies are already active here, we urgently need even more momentum, across entire Europe!”
VDA President Hildegard Müller also travelled to Wörth for the handover of the five test vehicles. “On the path towards the climate-neutral mobility of the future, the potential of all available technologies should be exploited. Particularly when it comes to heavy-duty commercial vehicles, e-mobility cannot be equated exclusively with battery-electric drive,” says Müller. “Rather, the fuel cell drive powered by hydrogen must also be considered as part of the diversity of available technologies. Manufacturers have the corresponding models in development and production, and now the political framework conditions must finally be created: a needs-based network of hydrogen filling stations and the associated infrastructure must be built up urgently. There is an urgent need for action for politicians, the German Federal Network Agency and the energy industry.”
The five test customers are looking forward to the experiences and the impact the tests will have on their fleet planning. “After extensive tests with battery-electric trucks, we are incredibly excited to continue testing the path to sustainable transportation of the future with a hydrogen-powered truck. Only with our own intensive experience can we make the right decisions for the change in our group starting in 2025,” says John H. Landwehr from Gerdes + Landwehr, a partner of the Holcim Group. And Micha Lege, Managing Director of Wiedmann & Winz from Geislingen, adds: “We have also recently been using an eActros 300 as a semitrailer truck in everyday haulage operations. Now we are looking forward to taking the next step and also testing a long-haul truck with a hydrogen fuel cell drive, in the form of the GenH2 Truck.”
0 Comments