- PH2P® Trucks by Paul Group Successfully Deployed: First 25 Vehicles Delivered to Customers
- Through Shell’s Pay-Per-Use model, the first hydrogen fuel cell trucks from Paul Group’s series production are now operational.
- Pioneering companies like DHL, Bachl, Troiber, and Emde use them across various terrains and for different purposes – thus, the technology successfully demonstrates its versatility and efficiency in practice.
- Hydrogen fuel cell trucks from Paul are now available for delivery.
Vilshofen— With the development of the PH2P® Truck, Paul Group has introduced a true innovation: The first 25 hydrogen fuel cell trucks from Germany have been delivered on schedule from series production since the beginning of this year, taking the technology to the streets. The hydrogen truck has an allowable total weight of 16 tons and offers up to 24 tons of total train weight, with a range of approximately 450 km. The exhaust emits pure water vapor. Among the pioneer companies now deploying the PH2P® Truck are logistics provider DHL, construction materials manufacturer and service provider Bachl, food wholesaler Troiber, and logistics company Emde for fashion retailer C&A.
Bernhard Wasner, CEO of Paul Group, states, “We are proud to have delivered all ordered vehicles in compliance with the contract to Shell within the short development and production time. From now on, we can offer immediate availability from the series production of the PH2P® Truck, especially serving companies that already have funding approvals for vehicles with alternative drives.” While Troiber, based in Hofkirchen, Bavaria, sends the trucks across the country on many uphill and downhill drives, DHL operates in the relatively flat North Rhine-Westphalia. Thus, the emission-free PH2P® trucks prove themselves with very different driving profiles as well as in different areas of application, illustrating the versatility and efficiency of this technology.
The first PH2P® Trucks were made accessible to logistics companies in Germany through Shell’s successful Pay-Per-Use model: Paul Group handed over the licensed vehicles to Shell, which operates them through the innovative platform model Pay-per-Use – including After Sales Service and supports the hydrogen refueling infrastructure. For the customers, this means all required services and support are covered during the period of use.
The business units DHL Freight and Post & Parcel Germany of DHL Group have deployed two PH2P® Trucks in Cologne to test the hydrogen drive solution for distribution and line haul operations, thereby further advancing decarbonization in land transport. As part of a one-year pilot, one vehicle will be used for distribution and line haul operations at the site in Cologne and the surrounding area, and the other for the Post & Parcel Germany sector in the city center through the Cologne West branch.
“Especially in land transport, where no alternative drive solution has yet been established, it is important for us to test various sustainable solutions with a technology-open approach. This includes battery-electric trucks as well as hydrogen vehicles, which particularly excel with their range and quick refueling on longer journeys. Ultimately, it is our goal to identify the best technology and drive mix to achieve our target of net-zero emissions logistics by 2050,” says Dr. Thomas Vogel, CEO DACH, UK & IE DHL Freight.
For example, Bachl uses the trucks to transport construction materials: The voluminous yet lightweight insulation mats are transported in the trailer. Fashion logistics entrepreneur Emde delivers on behalf of C&A. The food wholesaler Troiber uses a PH2P® Truck as a refrigerated transporter to reduce CO2 emissions in the fleet and to be open to further technologies for CO2-neutral delivery. Managing Director Constantin Troiber says, “We want to address the biggest CO2-causing factor in our company. Currently, 60 percent of our emissions come from our fleet, even though the vehicles already mostly comply with the Euro 6 emission standard. In doing so, we do not want to commit to one energy carrier but also remain open to further technologies such as electric drive and e-fuels for CO2-neutral delivery in the future.”
Bernhard Wasner explains, “We wanted to prove that the functionality of hydrogen fuel cell technology with our PH2P® works flawlessly in distribution traffic today and is used in a wide variety of application areas on a daily basis. We have succeeded. Hydrogen trucks can already directly replace diesel trucks without adjusting the tour planning, while they refuel the energy for the next nearly 500 kilometers of driving distance in just 10 minutes.”
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