MAN Truck & Bus has launched a limited series of hydrogen combustion-powered trucks for customers in a select number of countries.
The 200 initial planned units will be available to customers in the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland and other selected non-European countries by 2025.
The MAN hTGX will be suitable for transporting heavy goods, such as construction work or tank transport, with a 56kg tank that can be filled in 15 minutes with hydrogen compressed to 700 bar. Boasting an energy output of 383kW, the hTGX can travel up to 600km in the 6×2 and 6×4 axle variants.
The hydrogen combustion engine H45 is based on the traditional D38 diesel engine, produced at MAN’s engine and battery plant in Nuremberg, Germany. Familiar and proven technology enables MAN to “enter the market at an early stage and thus provide a decisive impetus for the ramp-up of the hydrogen infrastructure,” according to Friedrich Baumann, Executive Board Member of MAN Truck & Bus.
“Trucks powered by hydrogen combustion engines are a useful addition for special applications and markets,” he explained. “For special applications, hydrogen combustion or, in the future, fuel cell technology is a suitable supplement.”
Battery-electric vehicles remain MAN’s core focus in decarbonising the transport industry however, as Baumann believes the company will “best serve the vast majority of [its] customers’ transport applications with battery-powered trucks.”
Dr Frederik Zohm, Executive Board Member for R&D at MAN, said, “The new CO2 regulations at EU level will classify trucks with hydrogen combustion engines as zero-emission vehicles.
“At the same time, depending on the country, our customers benefit from corresponding toll reductions, for example.”
Zohm added, “Hydrogen fuel technology is also in preparation at MAN. However, it will be several years before the technology is really ready for the market and competitive.”
