Roadmaps to decarbonize heavy-duty trucks using hydrogen got a shot in the arm in 2020 from regulations, industry coalitions, and technological advancements, thus accelerating the race to commercialization by 2030.  

UTRECHT, The Netherlands – March 18, 2021. Hydrogen-fueled electrification of commercial vehicles holds a strong potential to meet zero-to-neutral tailpipe emission requirements. This is due to the natural advantages of extended range, faster refueling, and lower emissions than battery-electric powertrains.

Regulations promoting hydrogen mobility are maturing, primarily due to the accelerated sentiment towards Sustainability and Green Mobility. The EU’s mandate to reduce CO₂ emissions from new commercial vehicles by 30% by 2030 has entered into force. Similarly, Japan has mandated fuel efficiency improvements of c.14% for trucks and buses by 2025.

Three market forces are converging today and accelerating the adoption of Hydrogen Heavy-Duty Trucks

“The pandemic-induced disruption in the supply chain of EV batteries opens up opportunities for a faster transition to Hydrogen Mobility, as demonstrated by the sharp increase in investments in 2021”, said Georgios Stathousis, Manager at FutureBridge’s Mobility Practice. Investments in expansion of refueling infrastructure across major markets and development of fuel cells to decarbonize trucks and support Hydrogen Mobility rebounded to $1.7 billion in 2021 from $0.5 billion and $2.7 billion in 2020 and 2019 respectively.

With OEM roadmaps now focused on 2030, Trucking industry coalitions are now committed to phasing out ICE. In November 2020, Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, HYZON Motors, Ballard, Michelin, Total, Engie, Shell, and BMW Group committed to adopting hydrogen trucks. In December 2020, Daimler, Scania, Man, Volvo, Daf, Iveco, Ford agreed to the transition to zero-emission road freight transport. 2021 has already seen seven collaborations in Hydrogen Trucks between Honda-Isuzu, Faurecia-Hyundai, Daimler-Volvo, and Toyota-Hin, among others.

Finally, technological advancements point to the accelerated commercialization of Hydrogen-fueled Trucks by 2030. Hydrogen storage materials are evolving to facilitate efficient utilization for commercial applications.

FutureBridge’s benchmarking of eleven hydrogen storage technologies reveals that Borohydrides, Amide/Imide Mixtures, and Dibenzylto luene are the most feasible options. They perform well in terms of Gravimetric and Volumetric density and cost. Highly porous graphene–carbon nanotube hybrid catalysts, Selenium-graphene-based catalysts, and new fuel cell designs to enhance efficiency are promising solutions researched by academia. Novel powertrain designs such as Polymer Electrolyte and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells could emerge as reliable power sources to replace diesel engines making Hydrogen Trucks a reality by 2030.

FutureBridge will share the findings & analysis in the webinar “Hydrogen-Fueled Commercial Mobility” on 24^th March 2021. Register for the webinar here.