Volvo has unveiled its hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucks, that the company claims are capable of 1,000 kilometers of range and can be refueled in under 15 minutes.
The Swedish company’s trucks division has been “developing this technology for some years now,” said company president Roger Alm in a statement.
“It feels great to see the first trucks successfully running on the test track. The combination of battery electric and fuel cell electric will enable our customers to completely eliminate CO2 exhaust emissions from their trucks, no matter transport assignments,” Alm added.
“The fuel cell electric trucks will have an operational range comparable to many diesel trucks – up to 1000 km – and a refueling time of less than 15 minutes,” the statement said.
The total weight can be around 65 tons or even higher, and the two fuel cells have the capacity to generate 300 kW of electricity onboard, it added.
The company started building battery-electric trucks in 2018, but they still are not widely in service in the US.
Now with hydrogen fuel cell trucks, Alm said he expects growth in the supply of clean hydrogen in the next couple of years.
“Hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucks will be especially suitable for long distances and heavy, energy-demanding assignments. They could also be an option in countries where battery charging possibilities are limited,” said Alm.
Customer pilots of the Hydrogen fuel cell powered trucks will start in a few years from now and commercialisation is planned for the latter part of this decade, the company said.