Hydrogen truck from Mercedes with a range of 1,000 kilometers

Daimler CEO Andreas Gorbach recently covered a distance of over 1,000 kilometers with the GenH2 hydrogen truck from Mercedes-Benz. And apparently completely emission-free.

Achieving global climate goals requires a rethink in the transport sector. While electrically powered cars are becoming increasingly common in private transport, other solutions are required for heavy-duty transport. Mercedes recently demonstrated during a test drive that hydrogen can be an alternative.

The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 covered a distance of 1,047 kilometers during the test. The test drive began in Wörth am Rhein and ended in Berlin. The hydrogen truck has a total weight of 40 tons and covered the entire route without a single refueling stop. TÜV Rheinland followed the test drive and confirmed the results.

New hydrogen truck uses liquid hydrogen

The experiment went as follows: In Wörth am Rhein, those responsible filled up the truck for the last time, and the TÜV then sealed the flaps. Andreas Gorbach, Board Member for Truck Technology at Daimler Trucks, got behind the wheel and set off for Berlin. The state of hydrogen also made this possible.

Because the truck is based on liquid hydrogen. This has a temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius and has a higher energy density compared to its gaseous counterpart. As a result, the range of the vehicle also increases. Andreas Gorbach then spoke about how hydrogen can already represent an alternative for long-haul journeys.

GenH2 will be available as a hydrogen truck from 2024

Nevertheless, it will probably take some time before Daimler’s truck division is decarbonized. The company only wants to offer climate-neutral vehicles in its own core markets by 2039. The first customers should be able to test the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 truck in productive use as early as 2024.

In addition, there is still a partial lack of infrastructure for the long-term use of the technology. In recent years, many industries have set themselves the goal of increasingly using hydrogen. Nevertheless, there is often still a lack of gas pumps. There are 86 refueling points identified in Germany. For comparison: There are a total of 14,460 gas stations in this country.

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