Hydrogen truck: the first production vehicle with a fuel cell on the road in Germany
Created: 09/12/2022, 09:30 am
By: Sebastian Oppenheimer
The first hydrogen series truck is on the road in Germany - it comes from Hyundai and is used by a medium-sized company in Baden-Württemberg.
The topic of hydrogen as a power source for passenger cars is quite controversial.
While BMW boss Oliver Zipse, for example, sees this as the future, others, such as the renowned Fraunhofer Institute or car expert Stefan Bratzel, believe that the train for fuel cells in cars has already left.
In other areas, on the other hand, greater opportunities are attributed to hydrogen technology: for example in ships, in airplanes - or in trucks. Now the first hydrogen truck from series production to be registered here is on the road on German roads.
Hydrogen truck: the first production vehicle with a fuel cell on the road in Germany
The truck is a Hyundai Xcient Fuel Cell, which according to Hyundai Motor Group can store around 31 kilograms of hydrogen in its seven tanks.
A backup battery with a capacity of 72 kWh is also installed.
With a full tank, the manufacturer promises a maximum range of 400 kilometers.
Depending on the ambient temperature, a full refueling takes about 8 to 20 minutes.
The first series hydrogen truck is in use in Germany – it comes from Hyundai.
© Julian Rettig/dpa
Hydrogen truck: The first production vehicle is used by an event company
The first fuel cell truck from Hyundai is used as a rental vehicle by the Cologne start-up Hylane, which specializes in hydrogen trucks.
The company has now handed over the first vehicle to a medium-sized event company from Baden-Württemberg.
Hyundai's fuel cell truck is to be the start of a hydrogen truck fleet from Hylane - which will initially consist of 44 trucks.
The most popular hydrogen vehicles
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It remains to be seen whether hydrogen propulsion will be able to establish itself in trucks.
Because there is also a lot going on with trucks in terms of battery-electric drive: Tesla has now handed over the first electric semitrailer to its customer Pepsi, and on a test drive the Tesla Semi achieved a range of 800 kilometers.
And Mercedes is also developing electric trucks: The eActros is scheduled to go into series production in 2024 and have a range of 500 kilometers.
