Volvo forges ahead with hydrogen combustion

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Monday 24 June 2024

Volvo Trucks has announced that on-road tests with trucks using hydrogen in combustion engines will begin in 2026, with a commercial launch to follow towards the end of the decade.

The company says hydrogen trucks will be especially suita­ble over longer distances and in regions where there is sparse charging infrastructure, or where time for battery recharg­ing is limited.

Testing in labs and in vehicles is already ongoing, says Volvo, whose hydrogen combustion trucks are set to complement the rest of its alternative fuels portfolio which includes bat­tery-electrics, fuel cell electrics and trucks running on renewa­ble fuels such as biogas and hy­drotreated vegetable oil (HVO).

“Trucks where the tradition­al internal combustion engine remains but runs on hydrogen will have the same performance and reliability as our diesel trucks, but with the added ben­efit of potentially net zero CO2 emissions well-to-wheel,” said Jan Hjelmgren, head of product management and quality at Vol­vo Trucks.

The manufacturer points out that because of the low CO2 emissions from hydrogen com­bustion, such trucks will be cat­egorised as zero-emission vehi­cles under the new CO2 emission standards recently agreed by the EU.

Volvo hydrogen combustion trucks will feature High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) technolo­gy, which sees a small amount of ignition fuel injected with high pressure, enabling compression ignition before the addition of hydrogen. This is said to in­crease energy efficiency and en­gine power, while lowering fuel consumption.

The manufacturer has recent­ly finalised an agreement with low-carbon fuelling systems spe­cialist Westport Fuel Systems to establish a joint venture utilising HPDI technology.