Daimler Truck is putting a new prototype into operation to test the use of liquid hydrogen.

A newly installed prototype filling station at the development and testing centre in Wörth, Germany enables refuelling with liquid hydrogen. During the refuelling process, cryogenic liquid hydrogen at -253°C is filled into two 40kg tanks mounted on either side of the chassis. Thanks to the particularly good insulation of the vehicle tanks, the hydrogen can be kept at temperature for a sufficiently long time without active cooling.

Daimler Truck said it prefers liquid hydrogen in the development of hydrogen-based drives. In this aggregate state the energy carrier has a significantly higher energy density in relation to volume compared to gaseous hydrogen. As a result, more hydrogen can be carried, which significantly increases the range and enables comparable performance of the vehicle with that of a conventional diesel truck.

The development objective of the series-ready GenH2 Truck is a range of up to 1000km and more. This makes the truck suitable for flexible and demanding applications, especially in heavy-duty long-haul transport.

The start of series production for hydrogen-based trucks is planned for the second half of the decade.

Daimler Truck is planning to work together with Shell, BP and TotalEnergies on  infrastructure for hydrogen filling stations along important transport routes in Europe.