LONDON – Daimler and Volvo’s truck unit said Thursday they will start manufacturing hydrogen fuel cells in Europe in 2025 through a joint venture, and called for European Union policies to help make the zero-emissions technology commercially viable.
The competing German and Swedish makers of large freight trucks founded their venture, Cellcentric, in March. They said they would provide more details about large-scale fuel production in 2022, but said Cellcentric is already working to ramp up prototype production.
“Partnerships like Cellcentric are essential to our commitment to decarbonizing road transport,” Volvo CEO Martin Lundstedt said in a statement.
Aside from the fuel cell joint venture, the two companies remain competitors. Both hope to test fuel cell trucks within about three years and begin mass producing the trucks in the second half of this decade.
The European Union is seeking to impose stricter emissions standards, which has led to a boom in zero-emission electric cars.
But the batteries in electric cars are very heavy, and hydrogen fuel cells are seen as more viable zero-emission power systems for long-distance charging in the future. Fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen, and emit only water.
The two truck makers called for the construction of about 300 hydrogen refueling stations suitable for heavy vehicles in Europe by 2025 and about 1,000 stations by 2030.
During a video conference with the two companies, European Transport Commissioner Adina Valian said that the Commission will propose a revised alternative fuels directive this summer.
This “will include binding requirements for the start-up of hydrogen fueling infrastructure… and financial support will be available when needed,” she said.
Carmaker Stellantis said this year that it would begin deliveries of Europe’s first mid-size pickup trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells by the end of 2021.
Stellantis said at the time that Germany had 90 hydrogen stations, and France had 25, a small fraction of the thousands of gasoline stations available for fossil fuel vehicles today.
Since zero-emission trucks are much more expensive than fossil fuel models, Daimler and Volvo said “a policy framework is needed to ensure demand and affordability.”
The companies said policies should include support for “CO2 neutral technologies and a tax system based on carbon and energy content.”
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