Zero emission trucking: what’s the current state of play?

Although the transport industry will tell you fuel efficiency is a vital part of business, experience has often suggested it is simply paying lip service to the ideal, placing other considerations above energy usage.

But now that the industry is talking about, and starting to trial, alternative fuels and battery electric vehicles, the attitude has changed.

“What's really interesting, and what we've found in the zero-emission space, is that when we put someone into a battery electric vehicle, people get very worried about energy usage,” said Romesh Rodrigo, Head of Regulatory Affairs and Emerging Mobility Sales, Daimler Truck Australia Pacific at the VTA Alternative Fuel Summit.

“They start looking at things like tyre pressure and how they drive, and all the stuff we've been talking to customers about for a long time to improve efficiency.

“There's this mindset that we will just swap out current technology powertrain in vehicles and stick battery electric or hydrogen into zero emission vehicles.

“When we start looking into the mechanisms of this, it's expensive. There's a lot of things that we have to do to get there, so it's really critical we acknowledge that commercial vehicles are difficult to take towards zero emissions. This is where innovation becomes really critical for us.”

Related: State of Australia’s electric truck market: Experts weigh in

The global commercial vehicle builders are looking at massive levels of research and development spending. The technology spread is wide, and it’s too early to work out which technology is going to work out as the best choice in each application.

Battery electric is going to be a key component in the development, but there is also hydrogen power. Manufacturers require higher energy density when using hydrogen where tare mass is critical. Then there’s the decision whether to use hydrogen in liquid or gaseous form. Based on that, there may be a role for internal combustion hydrogen engines during a transitionary period as fuel cell technology develops.

Another bridging option on the road to zero may well be increased use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as a liquid fuel, replacing diesel. HVO production is ramping up in Australia, but manufacturers have to make a serious investment when long term demand is still questionable.

“Research and development costs a lot of money, it’s really critical,” said Romesh. “This is where you can see a lot of consolidation in the OEM landscape in terms of how companies are having to come together to invest in this technology.”

Cellcentric is an operation developing hydrogen fuel cells, jointly owned by Daimler and Volvo but destined to be used by all brands under their umbrellas.

“Europe, Japan and other highly populated nations around the world are pushing this, having to look at where they get energy from now, whether that's for energy security or to meet their sustainability guidelines and so on, said Romesh. “In Australia, we've had a lot of hydrogen discussions. There's been a lot of high-profile people who have talked about it, helped get a lot of local investment.

“The rest of the world isn't slacking around this. When I started looking at this a couple of years ago, it wasn't about sending hydrogen trucks to Australia: it was about getting green hydrogen from Australia.

“The world is looking for a source of clean energy now, whether it's hydrogen, green ammonia, or big batteries or whatever. This is not about what Australia can consume, it’s about what we can export.”

Hydrogen buses have been in use for the past 20 years in Perth, using a fuel cell. The long-term trial saw no safety concerns about the explosive nature of the fuel, and Perth denizens were quite comfortable with the buses on their suburban streets. The hydrogen fuel cells were very early examples, with the technology now much more sophisticated.

“If you want to run something and you want to prove a technology, you don't have to prove it in trucks,” said Romesh. “It doesn't matter what the trucking industry says. We've proven it in buses, carrying our most valuable cargo.”

The recent Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo had an array of zero emission hardware on display, with a major focus on hydrogen. Fuso displayed two trucks, one with a liquid hydrogen fuel cell and the other with an internal combustion hydrogen engine.

“There has been a lot of progress over time. In 2022, we started showing how to fill up with liquid hydrogen, and the driver had to wear PPE (personal protection equipment),” said Romesh. “Fast forward to today and now when we fill up the liquid hydrogen, there’s no PPE.”

Liquid hydrogen was, in the past, regarded as difficult to transport. There's currently a trial in Europe where trucking operators gain practical experience with fuel cell trucks. At the same time, the Daimler Truck development team is gaining insights into the real-life operations of trucks powered by liquid hydrogen, understanding specific customer requirements.

Five Mercedes-Benz GenH2 are running on long-haul applications in Germany handling the transport of building materials, containers, cylinder gases etc. During these first customer trials the trucks will be refuelled at two designated liquid hydrogen filling stations.

Prospective customers get the opportunity to gain practical experience with fuel cell trucks at an early stage, and the Daimler Truck development team can acquire real-life insights.

“We need government policy to support infrastructure development, because we can keep doing this, keep developing our trucks,” said Romesh. “We will keep investing, but ultimately, this comes down to where are we going to go as a nation?

“Australia has a spot here and will be able to do this with the technology that we're developing as OEMs, if we're not in isolation. It all comes down to what can Australia do to also support this transition.”