Electricity instead of diesel – the electrification of truck traffic on the street is a challenge for commercial vehicle manufacturers. The pressure of success is correspondingly high. But the manufacturer Daimler Truck is now dampening the hopes of a quick series production of hydrogen-powered trucks. A statement by Daimler-Truck development chief Andreas Gorbach On the company’s capital market day: he continues to focus on the industrialization of fuel cells and its use in trucks. But the planned series production is postponed to the early 1930s, as a spokesman reports. So far, production for the end of the decade has been announced. Reasons for the adapted plans: expensive hydrogen, few hydrogen filling stations and delays for a new fuel cell production facility. But manufacturers such as Daimler Truck, Man or Hyundai drive a double strategy for the changeover that is necessary due to the tightened climate protection requirements. They develop and build both battery and hydrogen-powered vehicles. Employment rules for commercial vehicles are more important in the fuel cell. In the so -called electrolysis, water (H2O) is split using electricity in hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (o2) – this gains hydrogen. This can then generate electricity again in a fuel cell. The smell and colorless gas can replace the burning of coal, oil or gas in industry and traffic. Hydrogen is therefore considered a kind of all -rounder in the fight against climate change. If electricity from renewable energies is used for its production, one speaks of green hydrogen. Lawns with fuel cell drive are already reaching ranges of 1000 kilometers, while the electric drive is more used on shorter routes. The exacerbated exhaust gas rules for commercial vehicles stipulate that CO2 emissions should decrease by 45 percent compared to 2019 by 2030. In 2035 and 2040 the requirements become even harder. With battery -electric solutions alone, this goal is very difficult to achieve, Gorbach warns in an opinion contribution in the LinkedIn career network. Daimler-Truck development director Andreas Gorbach: With battery-electric solutions alone, emission goals alone are very difficult to reach AFPO. At the company’s capital market day, Gorbach criticizes that the charging infrastructure for e-trucks is already far ago. And much further with the hydrogen for refueling the fuel cell vehicles. The consequence: The freight forwarders would not be able to use corresponding vehicles in larger numbers in the coming years. In addition to the EU CO2 goals for the EU for 2030, the CO2 goals for 2030 are required, according to Daimler Truck in Europe, around 35,000 quick load points and around 2000 hydrogen filling stations are currently required for heavy trucks and travel buses. at least 1160 hydrogen filling stations. The Ludwig Bölkow system technology (LBST), a consulting company whose largest partner is TÜV Süd. A total of around 125 new petrol stations were opened last year: 42 of them in Europe, around 30 in China and 25 in South Korea. In comparison to classic fuels or charging stations, the number of hydrogen filling stations is still low. In Germany alone there are around 14,000 petrol stations for fossil fuels and around 90,000 charging facilities. The annual evaluation shows more than 1000 hydrogen filling stations for the first time in 2024, although the number was probably exceeded in 2023. It is back that there are now more precise and significantly higher numbers of China. The LBST now counts 384 petrol stations there. China is the largest market. There are 748 all over Asia, the remaining locations are mainly in South Korea (198) and Japan (161). In Europe there are 294, 113 of them in Germany, another 65 in France. There are 89 petrol stations in the United States, the vast majority of which are in California. In Düsseldorf, Germany’s largest hydrogen petrol station operator H2 Mobility recently put another station into operation. The company has been converting its network since 2022 and focuses on the refueling of trucks and buses. H2 mobility belongs, among other things, a fund company, the gas dealers Linde and Air Liquide, the OMV and Shell oil corporations, the manufacturers Daimler Truck and Hyundai as well as the petrol station operator total energy. “Based on current assumptions, we assume that fuel cell trucks can be competitive for hydrogen prices from five to six euros per kilogram,” says a spokesman for Daimler Truck. It is not surprising that the construction of a huge fuel cell factory in Weilheim/Teck near Stuttgart from Cellcentric, a joint venture between Daimler Truck and Volvo, comes to delays. But the resistance from the population against the factory was great. The property acquisition by the municipality for the new industrial area dragged on. It was only in December 2024 that Cellcentric was able to secure a property bake option contract for 16 hectares of land in the Rosenloh industrial estate for the planned establishment. The aim was to realize the beginning of large series production in Weilheim/Teck in accordance with the introduction of EU CO2 legislation. According to current estimates, this will happen around 2030, says a company spokesman: “The necessary flexibility due to change in the automotive industry, the delayed development of the necessary hydrogen infrastructure as well as the availability and pricing of green hydrogen means that Cellcentric can currently only act according to the volatile market environment.” According to previous information, a total of around 800 people should work once. Cellcentric develops, produces and markets fuel cell systems for use in heavy commercial vehicles. The joint venture was founded in 2021, has locations in the Stuttgart area and in Burnaby, Canada, and has more than 550 employees.
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