Daimler Truck announced it has completed 225,000 km of travel in initial customer trials using five Mercedez-Benz GenH2 hydrogen fuel cell trucks in Europe.
That’s equal to about five trips around the world, the truck maker said. The average hydrogen consumption ranged from 5.6-8 kg/100 km with average gross vehicle weights between 16 and 34 tons.
“The initial customer trials are extremely valuable for the further development of our fuel cell trucks. By deploying the GenH2 Trucks in real-world logistics operations, we have been able to demonstrate their performance, reliability and efficiency across various transport applications and gain important insights,” said Michael Scheib, head of entire vehicle development at Mercedes-Benz Trucks:
“This enables us to refine the technology and vehicles according to the specific needs of our customers all the way to series production. Furthermore, the intensive use of the liquid hydrogen fueling stations during the trials enables further optimization of the refueling process. All these practical experiences also help us to optimally prepare our sales and service for the deployment of hydrogen trucks for our customers.”
The trucks have been on the road for nearly a year and are powered by fuel cells from cellcentric, a joint venture with Volvo Group. Customers reported fueling times of 10-15 minutes and range of 1,000 km or more.
“The GenH2 Truck has performed well in our transportation partner’s operations, demonstrating solid reliability and fuel efficiency,” said Fabian Duex, director, EU surface transportation operations, Amazon, one of the test fleets. “During the trial, it consistently achieved ranges of over 1,000 kilometers on a single tank, and the truck operated smoothly in a five-day-a-week schedule. Based on our partner’s experience with the pre-series vehicles, the GenH2 Truck shows promising maturity.”
Daimler Truck now plans a second round of trials with the same trucks and a new set of customers, beginning in Q4.
