The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and RMI on Tuesday released a new Guidance Report, Hydrogen Trucks: Long Haul’s Future?, which focuses on hydrogen-based powertrains for heavy-duty Class 8 long-haul freight routes pulling van trailers. Electrification in trucking is still in its infancy – and hydrogen is embryonic – yet the study team determined that hydrogen fuel cell tractors are the only zero-emission solution for many duty cycles of heavy trucks.
"We don't really have a Mr. Fusion out there to go 600, 700 miles," said the report's key author and NACFE's Director of Emerging Technologies Rick Mihelic, "and as much as we appreciate battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), they really aren't set up to go those really long distances with heavy loads."
The report found that hydrogen may also be the forerunner of a new green industrial revolution, or just the progression from one fossil fuel-based energy carrier to another with greater emphasis on reducing emissions. Either way, hydrogen will be a factor in future long-distance freight hauling in combination with battery-electric vehicles for shorter range operations.
