A hydrogen truck in public trials in Albi

The hydrogen-powered electric truck is legitimately expected by many professionals as a sustainable solution to truly reach zero-emission transport without making overly restrictive operational compromises. Promises such as filling up in 15 minutes or being guaranteed a 400 to 500 km of autonomy before recharging (about 250 to 310 mi) -without compromising the transport capacities in terms of volume and weight- give hope to a strategic sector of the economy to be able to face the challenges of decarbonisation and depollution looming ahead.

This key industry has also been widely brought out in the latest study carried out by France Hydrogène whose “Ambition + 2030” scenario forecasts 10,000 hydrogen-powered lorries on French roads by 2030.

However, truck manufacturers are not rushing to face these issues promptly. In the passenger car world it took the rise of “pure players” such as Tesla to really shake up an industry that was reluctant to abandon its fossil fuels-powered engine as of yet. In the heavy road transport world the initiative is here again taken by new entrants, whether they be major manufacturers but new entrant to the European truck market like Hyundai, or pure players such as Hyzon Motors which is developing hydrogen-powered trucks based on DAF chassis from Groningen in the Netherlands.

It is indeed this very Hyzon truck, the HyMax-250, which will be driving on the Albi circuit on September 22 and 23 as part of these days organised by the Occitanie Region, AdOcc (Economic Development Agency for the Occitanie region), the City of Albi (a South-based French city), and all the players working on the development of the Occitanie H2 Corridor project (including Seiya Consulting, the editor of your favourite H2 blog). Transporters and shippers from Occitanie who can apply for subsidies from the Corridor H2 programme via an AMI (Call for Expressions of Interest) from the Occitanie Region will therefore have the unique opportunity, the first time in France, to test a Hyzon hydrogen truck on the Albi circuit.

The city of Albi and its circuit offer unique infrastructures to host hydrogen vehicles. It is located just a few hundred metres from the premises of Safra, the only French manufacturer of hydrogen buses. The City of Albi is taking a stand around this thematic and its local skills which are reputed in France and Europe, in particular Eveer’Hy’Pole – H2Teams, to develop a European Campus of New Mobilities. Moreover, a mobile hydrogen station supplied by Air Products will be on the circuit to recharge the vehicles during the event.

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Article written by Bertrand Chauvet and translated by Logan King.