Tested by Amazon, Air Products, Holcim, Ineos Inovyn and Wiedmann & Winz, the trucks ran daily logistics routes with ranges beyond 1,000km and refuelling times of just 10–15 minutes. Manufacturer Daimler said the performance matched diesel, minus the emissions.
Across the trials, the vehicles consumed between 5.6-8kg of hydrogen per 100km, refuelling 285 times with a total of 15 tonnes of liquid hydrogen at stations in Woerth and Duisburg, Germany.
Daimler said the fuel use compares with around 58,000 litres of diesel and 154 tonnes of CO2 for the same distance.
“All these practical experiences help us to optimally prepare our sales and service for the deployment of hydrogen trucks for our customers,” said Mercedes-Benz’s Michael Scheib.
However, customers noted that the total cost of ownership (TCO) still falls short of diesel due to high hydrogen prices and insurance premiums.
Daimler highlighted the fragility of hydrogen infrastructure in Europe, with just the two stations handling all 285 refuelling operations.
The auto major is pushing for liquid hydrogen over compressed gas for its higher energy density and payload advantage.
Still, Daimler admitted that a European network of around 2,000 stations will be required by 2030 to make large-scale deployment viable.
A second phase of the trials will add a further five customers to the programme, either in late 2025 or 2026. From next year onwards, around 100 small-series GenH2 trucks will be built at Daimler’s Wörth plant and deployed with selected fleets.
H2 View understands that this will act as a bridge from prototypes to commercial rollout. Industrial-scale production is expected in the early 2030s, once Europe develops around 2,000 liquid hydrogen refuelling stations.
H2Accelerate is lobbying for the coordinated rollout of infrastructure, while the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) sets minimum hydrogen station targets along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridors.
In the meantime, Daimler is pursuing a “dual-track strategy”: battery-electric for regional and short-haul, hydrogen fuel cell for long-distance and flexible routes.