Hydrogen – Volvo Trucks presents a fuel cell truck with a range of 1,000 km

Volvo Trucks presented a model of semi-trailer tractor unit equipped with a fuel cell and capable of having a range of up to 1,000 km. The Swedish company has not yet communicated a production date, but the first test vehicles are already on the road.

Like Scania, Volvo Trucks, completely independent of Volvo Cars, already offers a range of “battery” electric trucks, but is also studying the possibilities offered by the fuel cell for the decarbonisation of the transport industry. For this, it joined in the joint venture Cellcentric with Daimler Truck in order to produce models under the two coats of arms at the future factory in Weilheim/Teck.

However, unlike its German partner, which plans the first deliveries of its GenH2 to customers in 2027, Volvo has not yet announced concrete dates, contenting itself with a very vague “second half of the decade”. However, the Swedish version may already be used in the form of pre-production models, a common practice in the transport industry.

Volvo Trucks is still a bit stingy with technical information: we know that the prototype is based on the FH Electric, that its autonomy is similar to the diesel version and that it has two fuel cells capable of generating 300 kW, exactly like the GenH2 therefore, and that the total mass should be 65 tonnes.

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Where Volvo Trucks and Daimler don’t have the same approach is when it comes to tanks. The first does not mention the capacity in kilograms that can be carried, but indicates a 15-minute filling of the five tanks placed vertically next to each other behind the cabin. The second, he prefers hydrogen in liquid form, therefore cooled to -253 degrees, which allows a faster full, in “a few minutes”. In addition, in this form, the energy density is higher in the tanks, which are also cooled, which makes it possible to occupy a lower volume for the same quantity of hydrogen.

However, the infrastructure, as symbolic as it is for the moment, follows for the moment the Swedish school, with a high pressure storage in gaseous form of the order of 350 bar for commercial vehicles and 700 bar for those intended for individuals. But Daimler having shares in H2 Mobility, the largest German operator of hydrogen stations, one can imagine that this will change quickly.