Daimler unveils long haul hydrogen fuel truck
September 23, 2020The announcement also stated that the semi trucks would be ready for series productions within the decade.
Daimler has revealed its new design and plans for a long haul hydrogen fuel truck that will start its customer trials in 2023. This announcement followed one made earlier this year that it would cease H2 vehicle development for passenger cars in order to place focus on the commercial semi truck side of their business.
The vehicle Daimler unveiled at the end of last week is called the Mercedes-Benz GenH2.
The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 is a long haul hydrogen fuel semi based on the current Actros truck from the brand. It offers an impressive 1,000 km (1600 mile) range, with a 25 ton payload. Daimler has announced its intentions to use liquid hydrogen to power the vehicle, instead of using H2 in its gaseous state, as is the case with the majority of other fuel cell vehicle designs.
According to Daimler, it opted for liquid hydrogen due to its greater energy density. This being the case, the fuel would require smaller storage tanks onboard the vehicles. At the same time, this fuel must be kept at extremely cold temperatures in order to maintain a liquid state. Daimler did admit that the required tech to make that viable in a vehicle is still in development.
The long haul hydrogen fuel stack truck has a 70 kilowatt hour battery pack to supplement its energy.
That battery pack is meant to provide the truck with added power when it is hauling high loads, said Daimler in its unveiling. That battery is recharged using regenerative braking and from excess energy from the vehicle’s fuel cell stack.
Provided that the 2023 consumer trials are successful, Daimler’s intentions for the Gen H2 are to launch series production before 2030.
By then, the automaker will also already have two battery electric trucks on the road before its long haul hydrogen fuel semi. The first is the Mercedes-Benz eActros, a 124-mile (200 kilometer) range truck, which is expected to begin series production next year. The second is the eActros Long Haul with its 310 mile (500 kilometer) range, which will begin series production in 2024.
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Liquid H is a good interim choice until lower-pressure H storage is invented. It solves the weakest link in H storage: extremely high pressure leading to two major accidents to date, many more very likely to come as numbers increase exponentially. We can’t afford another accident-prone large-scale technology: bad press killed our last one.
The 1000-mile range (correct the range numbers in the article, please) is fun to see again – the system will require very few refueling stations in the U.S., given that range.
Space shuttle insulation and layered active cooling around the liquid H tanks are feasible with current tech, reducing boil-off. H that boils off regardless will be captured as the truck’s fuel source while traveling. Purpose-build a fleet of new trailers and put the tanks etc. in that large empty volume underneath – plenty of room. The long-haul trucks will be self-driving, so no rest stops (where the boil-off H can’t be used as fuel) will be needed. At load/unload destinations, boil-off electricity can go to the local grid.
Low-grade heat created during H production, compression and liquefaction could be used locally for area heating, and perhaps even absorption-based air conditioning(?).
Use solar electricity to split out and liquefy the H and it’s all green. Good stuff.
-Bob Meyer, Fort Collins CO
Lower pressure hydrogen storage is not on the table for vehicles. It is inherently too heavy to be of interest. High pressure hydrogen is a globally established fueling standard. Daimler is the only company talking about liquid hydrogen in the truck, that I know of. Unfortunately this probably means that Daimler is simply on the wrong track, and won’t actually produce anything. Others will.
The 1600 mile range quoted is viable for liquid hydrogen. 1,000 mile plus is fine for the established H70 or future higher standard that will actually be used.