Introducing the GenH2 Truck
There is much debate in the world of trucking when it comes to new energy vehicles. Some companies insist that battery electric is the future. Some say gas warrants consideration. Some say a “normal” internal combustion engine powered with some or other “green” fuel is the way to go. Others say fuel cells are the future.
Rather wisely, Daimler Trucks has always said that there is no single silver bullet solution. Instead, it’s pursued two primary CO2-neutral solutions: battery electric and fuel cells. The former came first; we’ve reported widely on the company’s electric trucks. However, back in September 2020, Daimler Trucks presented the world premiere of the Mercedes-Benz fuel-cell concept truck known as the GenH2 Truck.
It complements the battery electric trucks rather nicely, as Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG and Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, explained at the time: “We are consistently pursuing our vision of CO2-neutral transport with a focus on the genuinely locally CO2-neutral technologies battery power and hydrogen-based fuel cells, which have the potential to succeed in the market in the long term. This combination enables us to offer our customers the best vehicle options, depending on the application. Battery power will be rather used for lower cargo weights and for shorter distances. Fuel-cell power will tend to be the preferred option for heavier loads and longer distances.”
The truck in a nutshell
The development engineers of Daimler Truck have based the GenH2 Truck on the characteristics of the conventional Mercedes-Benz Actros long-haul truck in terms of payload, range and performance.
With the GenH2 Truck, Daimler Trucks wants to achieve ranges of up to 1,000 kilometres and more on a single tank of hydrogen. In theory, the truck can operate on liquid or gaseous hydrogen. Daimler prefers the former because – in this aggregate state – the energy carrier has a far higher energy density in relation to volume than gaseous hydrogen. As a result, the tanks of a fuel-cell truck using liquid hydrogen are much smaller and, due to the lower pressure, significantly lighter. This gives the trucks more cargo space and a higher payload. At the same time, more hydrogen can be carried, which significantly increases the trucks’ range. This makes the series GenH2 Truck, like conventional diesel trucks, suitable for long-haul transport. Having said this, our test truck was powered and refuelled with gaseous hydrogen.
Exterior
From the front, the GenH2 Truck looks fairly similar to an Actros. However, pop around to the side of the truck and there are lots of radically different things to see. For instance, there’s a cooling unit, high-voltage battery, fuel cell and hydrogen tanks – which all reveal that this is a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary truck.
Interior
The interior looks very similar to that of an Actros – but there’s lots of information available relative to the fuel-cell system. Our test truck was also covered in monitoring equipment (because it was a prototype truck) – so it was crawling with gadgetry, wires and baffling pieces of IT.
Drivetrain
The series version of the GenH2 Truck will boast a fuel-cell system that supplies 2 x 150 kilowatts. (In the pre-series version, the two electric motors are designed for a total of 2 x 230 kW continuous power and 2 x 330 kW maximum power. Torque is 2 x 1577 Nm and 2 x 2071 Nm respectively.)
The battery will provide an additional 400 kW temporarily. At 70 kWh, the storage capacity of the battery is relatively low, as it is not intended to meet energy needs, but mainly to be switched on to provide situational power support for the fuel cell, for example during peak loads while accelerating or while driving uphill fully loaded. At the same time, the relatively light battery allows for a higher payload. It is to be recharged in series-production vehicles with braking energy and excess fuel-cell energy.
Two special liquid hydrogen tanks and a particularly powerful fuel-cell system will enable a high payload and long range. They represent the heart of the GenH2 Truck. The two stainless-steel liquid-hydrogen tanks intended for the series version of the GenH2 Truck will have a particularly high storage capacity of 80 kilograms (40 kg each) for covering long distances. The stainless-steel tank system consists of two tubes, one within the other, that are connected to each other and vacuum-insulated.
A core element of the sophisticated operating strategy of the fuel-cell and battery system is a cooling and heating system that keeps all components at the ideal operating temperature, thus ensuring maximum durability.
Drivers won’t necessarily concern themselves with all this. Instead, they will want to know what it’s like to drive. There’s only good news in this regard. Out on the road, the GenH2 Truck is much much quieter than a diesel, extremely responsive and super smooth. There’s also hardly any vibration in the cab.
Safety
We don’t know exactly what safety features will be fitted to the GenH2 Truck yet – because it’s nowhere near series production. However, it’s fair to assume that it will have all the necessary safety features. After all, this much can be said of all other Mercedes-Benz trucks; Daimler would have no reason to break the mould with the GenH2 (especially given some operators’ paranoia when it comes to hydrogen).
Verdict
Does the GenH2 Truck make sense for environmentally conscious South African transport operators? Of course yes. It offers all the advantages of a diesel truck while not destroying our planet. But we don’t know when the GenH2 Truck will come to South Africa; series production is planned for the second half of the decade, which is when the truck will become available in Europe. South Africa isn’t a core market for Daimler Truck; it has a stated objective to exclusively offer new vehicles that are carbon-neutral in driving operation in its global core markets (EU30, USA, Japan) by 2039.
The local uptake will also depend on the cost of the truck (we’re a very price-sensitive market). Then there is the cost and availability of green hydrogen (it needs to be green, otherwise you’re really not saving the planet). Plus there’s the availability of refuelling stations in South Africa.
Over in Europe, there’s already lots of activity in terms of that network of filling stations. When it comes to infrastructure for hydrogen filling stations along important transport routes in Europe, Daimler Truck is planning to work together with Shell, BP and TotalEnergies. Daimler Truck is also a shareholder in hydrogen filling station operator H2 Mobility Deutschland. In addition, Daimler Truck, Iveco, Linde, OMV, Shell, TotalEnergies and the Volvo Group have committed to work together to help create the conditions for the mass-market roll-out of hydrogen trucks in Europe as part of the H2Accelerate interest group.
So, you can expect to see lots of hydrogen trucks on European roads in the not-too-distant future. And locally? Alas, while there is some local activity on the hydrogen front, South Africa is hardly out of the starting blocks yet.
- Photography by Gianenrico Griffini and Daimler Trucks.
