- “The idea, of course, is that trucks should mainly carry cargo, not battery packs”.
In 2010, E-Trucks Europe in Westerhoven, in the Netherlands began to design and build emission-free trucks. Initially, the powertrain was limited to a battery pack, but it gradually became clear that this was not enough. The solution involved adding a range extender in the form of a hydrogen fuel cell.
“In 2013, we decided to develop a powertrain based on hydrogen,” begins André Beukers, Managing Director E-Trucks Europe. “By means of a fuel cell, hydrogen is converted into electricity. The result is abundant range and a particularly extended operating time. And you can fill up these trucks in less than ten minutes.”
“It makes for a completely different user experience than when you have a battery-powered truck that has to spend many hours a day on the charger. And you also have to hope that the local power network has enough capacity available.”
A 3-axle layout because of the built-in energy-consuming equipment
E-Trucks Europe specialises in building 3-axle trucks — mainly intended for urban traffic conditions — which have ‘energy-consuming equipment’ built-in. These are trucks whose powertrain consumes about as much energy as the equipment they carry, such as mobile concrete mixers, garbage compactors, cranes, and so on.
Trucks with such superstructures can be very heavy. To stop their weight damaging public roads, they are equipped with three axles. The pressure is then distributed over more wheels, saving wear and tear to the road.
“It’s quite a challenge to develop an emission-free powertrain, with a long range, for a 3-axle vehicle. After all, there’s much less space available in such a design than on a two-axle truck. Our system — which is very compact — is a great solution for that. And since the system is also relatively lightweight, it doesn’t necessarily have to be mounted underneath the vehicle. We often put it on the roof or behind the cabin.”
Ten minutes refuelling, two days of driving
E-Trucks Europe obviously didn’t develop the powertrain overnight. “We tried several solutions and looked at where the limits are in technical terms. That resulted in a powertrain consisting of a 45-kW hydrogen range extender and a 136-kWh battery pack. After just 10 minutes refuelling, you can run around town for two days on that.”
Around 10 E-Trucks are already on the road today and 40 more are in production. The trucks — with or without a built-in traditional powertrain — are delivered by DAF, before E-Trucks Europe installs its own powertrain and the truck is officially registered under the E-Trucks Europe brand name. “What we do is 100% customisation. That’s why it takes around 24 months after the order before a truck can be delivered.”
Five-fold increase in production due to growing demand
“We’re at our maximum production capacity of 50 trucks a year. But since market demand is much higher than that, we want to scale up soon — within five years — to a production capacity of 250 vehicles a year. But our current sites in Westerhoven and in Lommel, in Belgium, are too small for that. And so we’re adding a new production facility soon.”
Of course, E-Trucks Europe’s success has a lot to do with the rising demand for zero-emission vehicles. “The popularity of hydrogen for this application is growing rapidly. This is because users and municipal authorities recognise that batteries have too many limitations in terms of useful life.”
“This could be solved by installing larger and heavier battery packs, but then costs shoot up. And, of course, the idea is that a truck mainly carries cargo, not battery packs. On top of that, interested parties are starting to think more and more about the limits of the electrical grid.”
Upgrading to hydrogen
“The city of Groningen is a good example of that approach. They first experimented with electric vehicles for several years, but the hassle of preventing the batteries from running down prematurely made the workers nervous, not daring to use the vehicles to full capacity. Eventually, the city council decided to order their first E-Trucks Europe hydrogen truck.”
“On the other hand, of course, there are not yet enough hydrogen stations available today, but everything now points to the number increasing significantly in the coming years. We notice every time that the demand for hydrogen trucks in a certain area suddenly increases sharply as soon as a hydrogen station is put up in the area.”
A common drive
“Air Liquide and E-Trucks share a common drive to put hydrogen on the map. For instance, we’re very excited about Air Liquide’s plans to set up a large-scale network of hydrogen refuelling stations as part of HyTrucks, which is also suitable for heavy duty vehicles.”
“We also often come across Air Liquide in various hydrogen projects and in the Hydrogen Industry Cluster, of which we’re both members.”
Similar refuelling experience
“Hydrogen does away with the disadvantages of electric vehicles, while offering the same advantages: no CO2 emissions, no NOx and particulate matter emissions, and no annoying noises from an internal combustion engine. In an urban environment, that final point often carries surprising weight.”
“People usually don’t like being forced to change their habits. That’s why hydrogen refuelling is so nice. It barely takes longer than petrol or diesel refuelling, and so the experience is quite similar. Charging an electric vehicle is a lot more complicated. There are more and more charging stations coming up but they’re often occupied. And even if they’re available, you still have to be lucky to have the right charging pass.”
“So yes, we believe strongly in hydrogen. And thanks to the large and rapidly growing interest from the market, we see an increasingly broad support base for this technology. That support will increase even further as more renewable hydrogen becomes available. Air Liquide is already working hard on that.
Incidentally, we’ve opened a Hydrogen Experience Centre here in Westerhoven where we share information and knowledge about hydrogen and where we train drivers and mechanics.”
Over the past 50 years, Air Liquide has built in-depth expertise throughout the hydrogen value chain: from production to storage and distribution. This allows us to offer state-of-the-art materials and guarantees an uninterrupted supply of hydrogen 24/7. Contact us if you would like more information.
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