COULD FUEL CELL CONVERSIONS HELP CLEAN UP LONG HAUL DIESEL TRUCKING?

In addition to building new trucks that don't produce emissions, what if older trucks were converted to hydrogen fuel-cell power? Daimler Truck North America and diesel-engine manufacturer Cummins are working together to update older Daimler-built Freightliner Cascadia semi trucks with Cummins-supplied fuel-cell powertrains.

The companies plan to have the first trucks ready by 2024. By then, Daimler also expects to have increased production of the battery-electric eCascadia, which was unveiled in production-ready form on the same day as the fuel-cell announcement.

Hyzon Motors, a startup company, plans to provide fuel-cell conversions in order to get cleaner trucks on the road more quickly. The company has said that due to supply-chain issues, the current wait time for a new truck chassis is up to 16 months. Converting existing chassis provides a shortcut. Hyzon plans to offer 110-kw and 200-kw fuel-cell stacks. It said examples of the latter will begin testing by the end of 2022, with a commercial launch after that. The stacks will be manufactured at Hyzon's Illinois factory.

Other companies are interested in building new fuel-cell trucks. In 2021, General Motors and Navistar announced plans to build 2,000 fuel-cell semis. Toyota and Kenworth have been demonstrating "Project Portal" prototypes for a few years now.

The most ambitious plan is from the California Fuel Cell Partnership trade group. They want to put 70,000 fuel-cell trucks on the road by 2035, with 200 new hydrogen stations.

Commercial trucks are a more viable option than passenger cars for fuel cells right now. But that might not be the case for long. Battery-electric vehicles will likely have enough range for all but long-haul applications, recent analysis claimed, leaving fuel-cell trucks as a small niche.

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