Daimler Truck is still determined to achieve the climate goals set by politicians. The entire fleet should be climate neutral by 2039. The way there is long. However, it would be wrong to only rely on purely electric trucks. Daimler is bringing sLH2 into play as a second solution. This is frozen, liquid hydrogen that can be refueled like diesel. The first public sLH2 filling station has now been opened in Wörth, close to the truck manufacturer's factory.
Operating trucks with hydrogen via the intermediate fuel cell step is nothing new. All manufacturers are working on it. But common gaseous hydrogen has some disadvantages, including that reasonable ranges cannot be achieved. And the gas station itself is more expensive and the refueling process is more complicated. The “subcooled liquid hydrogen”, hence the abbreviation, is almost like diesel, although it is cold to minus 256 degrees. It is not necessary to wear protective clothing when refueling. There is also no need for data exchange between the truck and the gas station.
Refueling takes less than 15 minutes
At the opening, one of three test trucks treated itself to 79 kilos of liquid hydrogen, which then provided a range of around 1,000 kilometers. Its two H2 tanks, which are connected to each other, can hold 40 kilograms of H2 each, which corresponds to a volume of around 720 liters each. The refueling process itself takes less than 15 minutes.
The fact that sLH2 has received little attention so far is mainly due to the problem of outgassing with liquid hydrogen. If the vehicle is stationary for a longer period of time, the hydrogen becomes warm and then becomes a gas and evaporates.
The price still has to come down
But now Daimler Chief Technology Officer Andreas Gorbach believes that this phenomenon is under control; a truck can sit for up to four days without anything escaping from the insulated tanks. In long-distance transport, trucks are always on the move anyway. One of the three trucks has been converted; it used to run on gaseous H2, and nothing had to be changed to the drive itself. In the fuel cell, the hydrogen is reformed with the oxygen, which provides the energy for the electric motor, which can also draw power from a 50 kWh battery. The system output is 780 hp (573 kW). If necessary, the truck can be moved alone using the battery; it is of course important that the braking energy can be stored in the battery and not wasted uselessly.
Daimler firmly believes in the future of sLH2 and encourages other manufacturers to look into it. If road freight transport is only carried out with electric trucks, it would be far too expensive because of the electrical infrastructure that would then be necessary and still needs to be created for the megawatt charging stations. Even 2,000 hydrogen filling stations, which will be needed by 2030, are cheaper and can also be implemented more quickly.
But a kilo of H2 still costs between eight and twelve euros. Only when the price drops to around 4.50 euros will it be economically interesting. The next sLH2 gas station is scheduled to open in Duisburg in the summer. Five trucks in real delivery traffic act as test vehicles.
#Daimler #replace #diesel #deepfreeze #hydrogen