Fuel Cell Vehicles & Refuelling, plus Hydrogen Supply

The idea of hydrogen as a road transport fuel is, it’s fair to say, not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’.

Undeterred, Hyundai has continued to blaze a trail on the hydrogen truck front, with its latest deployment set to be twenty-one ‘XCIENT’ heavy-duty hydrogen fuel-cell electric trucks “for clean logistics operations”.

These ‘Class 8’ trucks will “transport vehicle parts” from suppliers to a ‘Megasite’ operated by Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA). The trucks will be part of the Glovis America truck fleet, representing “more than one-third of this truck fleet at HMGMA”.

The Megasite will also see installation of a mobile refuelling station at first, with “hydrogen production and [a permanent] refuelling station” being developed and to “be announced at a later date”.

Whether the hydrogen at such refuelling stations is actually clean (rather than ‘grey’) remains a point of controversy in most locations today. But on its way to fixing that particular criticism in Germany is H2Mobility.

It has “announced that green hydrogen is available at its refuelling station in Erlangen…, whilst additional stations in Bavaria will soon be supplied too”. The hydrogen is being supplied by German firm Tyczka Hydrogen and “will be RFNBO-certified” (when that process is available).

The Erlangen hydrogen refuelling station is “one of the busiest” on H2Mobility’s network, and “frequently used by heavy-duty vehicles”. So it is a good place to start cleaning up the hydrogen supply. The company is aiming to provide “100% green hydrogen across its entire refuelling network by 2028”.

And, in other heavy vehicle progress in Germany, UK bus maker Wrightbus has “completed delivery of 31 fuel cell buses for the German operator Regionalverkehr Köln Gmbh (RVK)”.

Things won’t stop there for Wrightbus, with “further hydrogen bus deals in Saarbahn, Vestische, Cottbus (where 46 buses will be headed) and West Verkehr”.

Away from Europe, a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Oman’s Synergy Investment and China’s FTXT Energy Technology (“a company that specialises in fuel cell systems for the transportation industry”, owned by Great Wall Motor) aims to “advance the use of hydrogen for commercial vehicles in Middle East”.

The two companies will “work together in R&D, manufacturing, sales, and associated service facilities, as well as technical assistance and post-purchase services”.