Hyundai hydrogen-fueled trucks making inroads in Europe

[Caribbeans]

South Korean automaker gets jump on rivals' fuel cell-powered big rigs



Nikkei Asia
Jens Kastner, Contributing writer April 5, 2022

Gebrueder Weiss has been operating its Xcient since January 2021 in Switzerland, the country Hyundai chose as its launchpad into Europe. In the coming months, Hyundai will expand into neighboring Germany and Austria, along with Denmark, where partners H2 Energy, based in Zurich, Singapore's Trafigura and Phillips 66 of the U.S. are investing 300 million euros ($331 million) to create a corridor of 260 hydrogen fueling stations. H2 Energy played a key role in the development of the Xcient.

Meanwhile, the fuel cell trucks of rivals, such as Daimler and MAN, are still in the prototype stage. Hyundai, by contrast, already has 47 Xcients carrying loads for 25 customers in Switzerland.

"In its first year of service, our hydrogen truck made 70,000 km without any issues, despite Switzerland's mountainous terrain constituting a real challenge for the reliability of trucks," Juergen Bauer, a member of Gebrueder Weiss' board, told Nikkei Asia.

"Unlike battery-powered electric trucks, our Hyundai's range is virtually unaffected by the driver's use of heating or air conditioning. And once a sufficiently large network of hydrogen refueling stations is realized along European highways, the hydrogen truck will be able to run practically unlimited distances, thanks to short refueling times," Bauer said. continued...
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transportation/Hyundai-hydrogen-fueled-trucks-making-inroads-in-Europe
PW Link: https://archive.ph/qvRKJ

Daimler Hydrogen Truck Prototype

Hyundai wants to use Hydrogen in other ways too- like aircraft

Hyundai will develop new hydrogen eSTOL aircraft that can travel 620 miles


https://interestingengineering.com/hyundai-hydrogen-estol-supernal

[PoliticAverse]

1. Hydrogen vehicles - greater range than electric, quicker to refill. n/t

[Miguelito Loveless]

3. Less than 50 H2 stations

versus thousands of chargers in US. Also H2 is currently more than gasoline per mile, and 95% of H2 is made from methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

[Caribbeans]

5. How many Tesla superchargers existed in 2011?

ZERO

Sure there are more chargers than stations right now. Hydrogen is ~10 years behind. And for now only in California.

Thank God the Japanese didn't scale back hydrogen research when the US did (2009-2010)

Also H2 is currently more than gasoline per mile

If gasoline is ~$6.00 / gallon H2 is actually competitive - 1 Kilogram H2 equals around 2 gallons petrol when used in a H2 FC car - because of the improved efficiency - 50-60% instead of ~20-30%. IOW 1 Kg H2 moves a typical hydrogen car and 4 adults around 70 miles.

95% of H2 is made from methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Doesn't have to be - and everyone in the hydrogen industry is striving for green H2

China has made hydrogen a priority - just written in to their latest 5 year plan, which most EV "journalists" in North America have no idea about. That's hilarious.

[Miguelito Loveless]

9. HFCEV were being developed at the same time as EVs

EVs progressed and proliferated, HFCEVs did not. About 1,000 fuel cell EVs were sold last year, compared to a half million Teslas alone. Also, once your free H2 card runs out, you are looking at $12-$15 per kg of H2. A single H2 fueling station (two pumps) is about $2 million, whereas you can get an 8 stall charging station for a quarter of that.

Solar hydrogen while green, is massively inefficient. It takes about 50-55 kWh of electricity to make a single kg of H2. That kg will propel and HFCEV about 50 miles. The same amount of electricity will propel the average EV 175-190 miles. The other problem is that H2 fueling station put us back to the same distribution model as current gas stations. Whereas a lot of people can "fuel" an EV at home, no one will be able to fuel their HFCEV at home because of the expense and building code issues. This, by the way, is why oil companies push H2 as a fuel, they don't have to change their distribution model much.

That is not to say that H2 may not have a place in heavy transportation (trains/ships) and aviation, EVs are just better suited for ground transportation.

Oh, and while you are at it, look up the term "hydrogen embrittlement" and ponder what it means to the maintenance of cars and fueling stations and what it bodes if that maintenance is neglected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_embrittlement

Yes, H2 is more efficient than gasoline/diesel, and it is cleaner to produce (provided it is made by electrolysis), but it just is not practical, nor more efficient, than a straight battery electric.

When I looked into buying an EV back in 2014, I considered HFCs, but as they were only sold in California at the time, and there were only a handful of fueling stations, so that killed the idea. Even today they are not available in my state (NC) and the closest fueling station is DC. Meanwhile, I have been driving EVs, starting with a Leaf, and moving up to a Model 3 and I do all my fueling at home, unless I have to go on a road trip. When I do, I have no worries about fuel thanks to Tesla's ubiquitous supercharger network. My friend who is a pediatric nurse who does home visitation for medically fragile children drives her Bolt between 100-150 miles a day and has zero problems with charging or range.

The market has decided. With the exception of Toyota, all the legacy car makers have ditched their H2 plans for BEVs.

[patphil]

2. I know this is the result of a destructive and deadly war, but...

Europe will have to find new sources of energy.
Relying on Russia was never a good idea anyhow.

[hunter]

4. I burnt my bridges with the hydrogen fuel enthusiasts in the early 'eighties.

I couldn't make the math work. I still can't.

My only regret is that I was an asshole about it. God save the world from angry young men.

If we're going to be powering our trucks with synthetic fuels anyways, why not choose those that are a little less squirrelly than hydrogen, especially if the overall efficiencies are comparable.

In these modern times, when organic chemistry is so much more sophisticated than it was then, most especially our knowledge of catalysts, etc., hydrogen as a transportation fuel seems even less useful.

The best sort of hydrogen powered truck is going to be a hybrid vehicle powered by a difficult fuel.

Even if you've got the hydrogen, sourced from natural gas or some "renewable" energy source, it's probably better to convert it to some synthetic fuel with familiar handling characteristics that can be used in hybrid electric surface vehicles and aircraft.

[Caribbeans]

6. It's 2022. A lot can happen in 40 years.

I couldn't make the math work. I still can't.

Even in the early 2000's few people imagined that it would ever make economic sense to use renewable energy to make hydrogen because the cost of solar and wind equipment was too high.

And then China decided to prioritize solar energy. They made panels (and turbines) much more affordable and that is what they are now doing with hydrogen equipment.

It's a game changer.

Over 30 nations have published "National Hydrogen Strategies".

China has prioritized the tech.

And now India is fully on board. That's the 2 most populated nations in the world. 2.4 billion people.

A new energy paradigm is forming right now. And unfortunately the US is far behind. It's a shame trillions of dollars and 20 years of wars has left the US broke and seemingly without any will to take the lead.

[hunter]

8. The price of solar panels doesn't have anything to do with it.

Hydrogen still doesn't work, even if solar panels are free... most especially for aircraft and heavy transportation.

I figure it's just another sleight-of-hand of the natural gas industry. They're always happy to call their product "green."

Railroads can be electrified, ships and airplanes can be powered by synthetic hydrocarbons, and car culture has always been a bad idea.

With the world population approaching 8 billion people this planet cannot support a car for every adult human. It doesn't matter what these cars might be powered by.

It's not just the cars themselves, it's the infrastructure that supports cars as well.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. I continue to believe NH3 is the best alternative. Burns in a fuel cell to make N2 and H2O.

Cleaner than anything except H2 itself. Whether it's "green" or not depends on the source of H2.

Wish I could do my own lab research in that area.