Two years ago, it might have seemed like the heavy-duty diesel engine was about to be consigned to the dustbin of history, in Europe at least.
At September‘s biennial IAA Transportation show in Hanover in 2022, battery-electric trucks were front and centre of every major manufacturer‘s stand. Those manufacturers that had diesel-related items on their stand tended to downplay them.
IAA is an exhibition which sometimes seems to be aimed at least as much at impressing potential investors and shareholders as it is attracting customers.
And, with concern about climate change, pollution and emissions reporting filling a growing part of the news agenda two years ago, the manufacturers’ emphasis on a ‘green’ electric future was perfectly understandable.
But what a difference 24 months (and a European war) makes. Constraints on the supply of cheap Russian gas have forced up electricity prices, and investment in electrical generation and charging infrastructure has fallen behind.
Karin Rådström, recently promoted to CEO of Daimler Truck, told Reuters news agency: “The trucks are ready and now infrastructure must follow.
“When the infrastructure is not ready, clients won’t buy and when our clients are not buying, we will need to delay the Green Deal.”
Christian Levin, her counterpart at Scania and MAN parent Traton, said: “It is not just about cost, it’s also about charging infrastructure, permissions, green electricity, supply of green electricity and, of course, pricing. All of that needs to come together.”
NEW LEGISLATION
The Green Deal starts to bite next year as CO2 emissions from heavy trucks are legislated to fall by 25% from 2019 levels as measured by the EU’s VECTO tool, and by 45% by 2030, if manufacturers are to avoid paying fines.
Daimler Truck’s chief of technology Andreas Gorbach doubted the changes would be feasible given the lack of development of a charging network in Europe. He advocated that EU targets should be linked to the availability of infrastructure: “In the past, somebody had to build the highways to have trucks on them – and the highway of the future is the charging infrastructure.”
The industry’s Tier One suppliers are now clearly hedging their bets: if zero-emission electric vehicles won’t sell, other technologies will have to fill the gap.
Phinia is probably not a name that will be familiar to most readers, but its brands – Delphi, Delco Remy and Hartridge – most certainly will be. The Phinia business was created when BorgWarner decided to concentrate on electrical vehicle technology in late 2022, and bundled its fuel systems and aftermarket parts businesses into the new company, saying the disposal would “be an important next step to further our pivot to EVs and advance our vision of a clean, energy-efficient world”.
Delphi’s UK-based fuel injection business, which supplies to DAF and Volvo Group, is part of Phinia. In the heavy-duty segment, it is eyeing a world where internal combustion does not necessarily mean diesel, with products dedicated to gaseous and low and non-fossil fuels.
So alongside conventional fuel rails, injectors and pumps, it also has components adapted for LNG, CNG and hydrogen. Delphi produces the injector that enables Volvo’s gas engine to replicate the performance of a diesel by eschewing spark ignition for compression ignition: gas and a small amount of diesel that acts as an ignition medium are both injected directly into the combustion chamber through the same nozzle.
On the diesel front, its most recent development to go public is a revised injector that will be fitted to 2025 DAFs, that had been modified to prevent the build-up of soft deposits from winter fuel additives on needles and nozzles.
EMERGENCE OF HYDROGEN
Last year, 30% of Phinia’s product engineering budget was invested in alternative fuels, and 48% in improving the fuel efficiency of existing components.
Hydrogen is a key area, with Phinia’s test vehicles having recently completed a 1000km, 12-hour test drive in cold temperatures.
The company said: “Heavy-duty transport often requires continuous high-power operation, with factors like extreme temperatures, heavy loads, continuous operating cycles and dirty operating environments posing additional challenges.
“H2ICE systems are emerging as a viable solution, particularly for applications where range, payload capacity and refuelling times are critical factors.”
It cites the following benefits of using hydrogen as an engine fuel:
• Rapid refuelling: compared to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) H2ICE vehicles can be refuelled in minutes, minimising downtime and maximising operational efficiency for many freight use-cases.
• Durability and reliability: H2ICE builds upon over a century of ICE development, ensuring a robust and reliable powertrain.
• Lower weight: H2ICE powertrains are lighter than BEVs. This is critical for the maximisation of payload capacity.
Bosch, which supplies the majority of the European truck makers, supports the views of its customers on the shortfall in infrastructure. While the company – which is massively invested in battery-electric power for vehicle types from pedal-cycles to heavy trucks – forecasts that, globally, around 20% of all newly registered commercial vehicles heavier than six tonnes will have a battery-electric powertrain in 2030, and fuel cells will have a share of around 3%, it also acknowledges that the major constraint is infrastructure.
At IAA, Markus Heyn, chairman of the Bosch Mobility business sector, said: “We need a consistent and faster expansion of electric charging stations and hydrogen filling stations in Germany and Europe.
“Commercial vehicles’ transition to alternative powertrains will succeed only if we remain technology neutral and continue to develop all forms of powertrains and make them more efficient.”
POWERING AN EU-FIRST
The Bosch view is that the various powertrain technologies are not in competition with each other – on the contrary, the variety allows manufacturers to decide on the optimum solution for each application.
It is not only further developing batteries, fuel cells and hydrogen engines, but is also making modern combustion engines even more efficient and has pooled the competencies of its commercial vehicle and off-highways businesses to tackle these demands.
Bosch announced it would equip the European industry’s first production hydrogen truck engine with a manifold injector. This is to counter the tendency of directly-injected hydrogen to gather at the top of the combustion chamber. But it will be followed by a new direct hydrogen injector, which requires no additional lubrication system, in 2026.
MAN is thought to be the customer, having already announced a hydrogen-powered truck, hTGX, for 2025.
MAN Truck & Bus director Friedrich Baumann said: “We are continuing to focus on battery-electric vehicles to decarbonise road freight transport. These currently have clear advantages over other drive concepts in terms of energy efficiency and operating and energy costs. However, trucks powered by hydrogen combustion engines are a useful addition for special applications and markets.
“The hydrogen combustion engine H45 is based on the proven D38 diesel engine and is produced at the engine and battery plant in Nuremberg. The use of familiar technology enables us to enter the market at an early stage and thus provides a decisive impetus for the ramp-up of the hydrogen infrastructure."
At IAA, Cummins, the last proprietary truck engine business, launched integrated drivelines featuring hydrogen combustion engines, Eaton transmissions and axles from its Meritor subsidiary.
