A group of leading truck manufacturers and energy/petrochemical companies announced today the launch of H2Accelerate (H2A), a collaboration aimed at bringing zero emission hydrogen trucking to the European mass market.

The companies, including Daimler Truck AG, IVECO, OMV, Shell and the Volvo Group, announced that they have signed a collaboration agreement, aiming to facilitate synchronized investments across the sector in order to create the conditions for the mass market roll-out of hydrogen fuelled heavy duty transportation. The H2A signatories have agreed to work together to seek public support to fund early pre-commercial projects to activate the market on the path towards a mass market roll-out, communicate around the technical and commercial viability of hydrogen fuelled trucking at scale, and hold discussions with policy makers and regulators to encourage policies which can support a sustainable and speedy activation of the zero emissions long haul trucking market.

Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG and Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, said:

“The participant companies in H2Accelerate agree that hydrogen-powered trucks will be key for enabling CO2-neutral transportation in the future. This unprecedented collaboration is an important milestone for driving forward the right framework conditions for establishing a mass market for hydrogen-based trucking. It is also a call to action for policymakers, further players involved and society as a whole.”

Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of the Volvo Group, said:

“Climate change is the challenge of our generation and we are fully committed to the Paris Climate Agreement for decarbonizing road transport. In the future, the world will be powered by a combination of battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles, along with other renewable fuels to some extent. The formation of the H2Accelerate collaboration is an important step in shaping a world we want to live in.”

According to the H2A companies, the decade-long scale-up will begin with groups of customers willing to make an early commitment to hydrogen-based trucking, with fleets operating in regional clusters and along European high capacity corridors with good refuelling station coverage. Over the decade, the clusters will be interconnected, resulting in a pan-European network.

Elisabeth Brinton, Executive Vice President for New Energies at Shell, said:

“The prize is clear. By boosting scale in a big way, hydrogen fuelled trucks will need to become available to customers at or below the cost of owning and operating a diesel truck today. This means truck customers will need to have access to a fully zero emissions vehicle with a similar refuelling time, range and cost range compared to the vehicles in use today. To achieve this ambition a clear regulatory framework is needed, including policies addressing the supply of hydrogen, hydrogen fuelled trucks, refuelling infrastructure and consumer incentives in a coordinated way.”

In addition to the environmental benefits provided by hydrogen trucking, the participant stated that rollout of the new sector is expected to create new industries, including zero-carbon hydrogen production facilities, large-scale hydrogen distribution systems, a network of high-capacity refuelling stations for liquid and gaseous hydrogen, and the production of the hydrogen fuelled trucks.

Gerrit Marx, President Commercial & Specialty Vehicles at CNH Industrial, said:

“The widespread adoption of hydrogen fuel-cell technology in heavy-duty transport is a function of the necessary infrastructure. We also need very concrete projects to demonstrate with hauliers and other stakeholders in the industry that this solution is financially and operationally viable. The ground-breaking H2Accelerate collaboration will create the conditions for this to happen and accelerate the transition to zero-emission transport.”

Angelika Zartl-Klik, OMV SVP HSSE & New Energy Solutions, added:

“H2 Accelerate is playing a pioneering role and OMV is making an important contribution here. In order to achieve the climate targets, we will need any low-carbon technology. Hydrogen is an option for the climate-friendly mobility of the future.”