Leased through Hylane, the hydrogen-powered truck will be used to transport products between Schäflein’s Nuremberg facility and a nearby service provider. Overall, the truck is expected to cover 12,000km per year.

When Schäflein set out to cut emissions from its in-plant logistics operations, it selected Bosch’s fuel cell system as the centrepiece of its decarbonisation plans, according to the Commercial Plant Manager.

“This deployment is an important building block that helps us reduce our emissions in logistics,” explained Alexander Weichsel. “The fact that several thousand trucks with Bosch fuel-cell systems are already on the road worldwide shows that the concept is proving its worth.”

Generating electricity on demand, the 200kW fuel cell eliminates the need for recharging and delivers a driving range of up to 800km. Additionally, the Iveco vehicle can store 70kg of hydrogen at 700 bar across five tanks.

While the main energy source is hydrogen, two battery packs have been installed to store excess power and provide peak-load support.

With the Iveco fuel cell truck, Bosch has now put its own system into real operation in Europe for the first time.

The German engineering firm provided the technology from its plant in Bamberg, Germany, while its Homburg site provides components such as the electric air compressor and recirculation blower.

Weichsel said the next milestone is to ensure affordable hydrogen and infrastructure is put in place in Germany, and particularly in Nuremberg.

“We’re actively working with industrial partners in the Nuremberg metropolitan region to implement Bavaria’s hydrogen strategy,” he added.

While hydrogen is touted as a viable solution for heavy-duty transport, several start-ups and OEMs, including Nikola and Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS), have since stumbled amid financial struggles.