Talk to the vast majority of small to medium-sized haulage operators about alternative fuels, and more often than not they will tell you they are waiting for hydrogen, having ruled out battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) as impractical.
Unfortunately for them, however, many of those on the technical side at the OEMs now believe electric will be the dominant means of switching to zero emissions, in this country at least. We talked to a few, to test the lie of the land.
“Whilst we, as a manufacturer, see it as a potentially interesting solution, the relative energy efficiency of using hydrogen as a fuel will always be behind that of electric,” Phil Moon, marketing manager at DAF Trucks, tells us. “So, hydrogen is going to be focused, we think, on more niche operations.”
This potentially includes vehicles which work mostly off road, in places with no grid connection, or in parts of the world where building a charging network is particularly difficult.
“My personal thoughts are that, although we’ve got a long way to go at the moment, the UK will end up fairly well served by charging networks,” he says.
“We’re seeing quite a lot of people starting to invest in building that infrastructure, so hopefully a few years down the line, electric will start to compete for viability with diesel.”
CHARGING UP
Even now, things are progressing fast, thanks to companies like Gridserve, Voltloader and Milence. Aside from the inefficiencies inherent in the production and use of hydrogen at the moment, the equivalent of ’pump prices’ are against it, too. At the moment, hydrogen fuel cells are more fuel efficient than hydrogen combustion.
In the US, Paccar subsidiary Kenworth has a fuel cell version of its T680 tractor. It carries around 60kg of hydrogen, giving it a range of around 600km – so around 10km per kilogram.
“Today, the price for hydrogen is between £10 and £16 per kilogram, which equates to around £1.00 to £1.60 per kilometre,” Moon points out. “Whereas for electric, you might be paying 30 to 50 pence if you are charging back at base.” Even using public chargers, at most operators would be looking at £1 per km for BEVs.
“I think it’s horses for courses,” John Comer, head of product management at Volvo Trucks, tells us. “But the most energy efficient of all the drivelines has got to be electric – and the cleanest, if the energy is renewable.”
Diesel combustion engines are only about 40% efficient, after all, whereas battery-electric is approaching 90%. “Where diesel scores is in the energy density of the fuel,” Comer reminds us. “100 litres of diesel will give you 300km, which is the same range as six batteries on a Volvo today.”
He adds: “The key element is what happens in terms of battery development. When Volvo launched battery-electric in 2019, we had 50kW batteries. Now, we have 90kW batteries.”
That is a huge improvement in a very short space of time. The big concern, therefore, is that hydrogen will end up in competition with electric for viability. “Then there’s also the possibility of moving from the current CCS2 to megawatt charging,” Comer adds.
Another problem for hydrogen combustion specifically is that while the European Union classes it as zero emission, the UK government does not.
COVERING ALL BASES
Regardless of all this, Volvo is, like most of the big OEMs, covering all the possibilities. As already mentioned, from a fuel cell perspective, it has partnered with Daimler Truck on the cellcentric project, and there will be hydrogen ICE coming down the line later this decade as well.
“My personal opinion, and I think this is fairly well shared within MAN, is that there’s a need for both electric and hydrogen technologies in the world,” says Ashlea Awbery, product manager at MAN. “But our primary focus for the UK is battery-electric, because that’s where we see most potential.”
At the moment, there is only one way to make green hydrogen, and that is through electrolysis. By the time that is then turned back into electricity again, as in hydrogen fuel cells, three quarters of the original energy has been lost.
“The quality of the hydrogen, which people don’t often talk about, is also a big player,” Awbery explains. “For a hydrogen combustion engine, the quality doesn’t need to be quite as pure as for a fuel cell, making the latter more expensive again.”
Conversely, however, hydrogen ICE is less fuel efficient. “Either way, when you consider the price, it’s a difficult proposition in this country.”
While that does not mean the door is shut entirely to hydrogen here, for MAN it is very much on the back burner. “There are a few hydrogen projects that, if the conditions were right, we would be able to participate in,” Awbery clarifies.
“But at the end of the day, long haul in the UK isn’t the same as long haul in Europe, where we’re talking about travelling thousands of kilometres,” he reminds us. “So, for the moment, we’re eager to learn more, and look forward to seeing the data reports from the R&D test fleet.”
“At this time, battery-electric vehicles are more mature than either hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen combustion vehicles,” is Phil Rootham, pre-sales technical manager at Scania GB’s take on this. “And if you look from a UK perspective, we have certain macro conditions that mean battery-electric is probably a more natural fit.”
In other words, we are a small land mass with a high population density, and relatively small distances between towns and major infrastructure.
“While our green energy is maturing massively, we still have a reliance on gas and fossil fuels,” Rootham continues. “The need for energy is increasing all the time but, being densely populated, we struggle with space, and farm-based solar arrays and wind turbines take up a huge amount of space.”
We therefore need to be as efficient in getting energy to wheels as possible. “And the most efficient way of doing that is via a battery-electric vehicle,” he adds. “Studies show that 75% of the energy that goes into a BEV goes to the wheels,” Rootham tells us, “as opposed to only 25%, maybe 30% of the energy put into making hydrogen.”
ELECTRIC FUTURE
If, like Norway, for example, you are a country with an abundance of green energy, the price for which is incredibly low because you are making a surplus, and it is all from renewables, the hydrogen argument is easier to justify.
“But that isn’t where the UK is at the moment,” Rootham points out. “Range becomes the challenger, but range properties are improving all the time, as is energy density on vehicles.”
Put all this together, and it all starts to point in one direction.
“As a manufacturer, we are not taking different technologies off the table, as we have to consider the needs of a global community. But we do expect the UK to be dominated by electric vehicles over hydrogen vehicles,” Rootham concludes, “because of the cost modelling and the energy availability situation.”
