Hythane or hydrogen: FPT Industrial’s dual engine approach at the IAA in Hannover
Hydrogen-powered engines were omnipresent at this year’s IAA Transportation in Hannover. Here’s what FPT Industrial decided to put on display.
Like Cummins, the Italian group presented several types of engine at the IAA Transportation. Among them was the N67 Hythane. This is a natural gas engine that can run on a mixture of gas and hydrogen. According to FPT Industrial, it “accelerates and improve the combustion process, and also making it much cleaner, with an estimated CO2 emissions reduction of up to 50% compared to natural gas.” It is a 6.7-litre, 280 hp 6-cylinder engine.
The solution is not exactly new, since a prototype bus running on this mixture was presented in 1995 by the Canadian company Nova Bus. The city of Dunkirk has already tested Hythane buses. This was between 2005 and 2010 as part of the Predit (a research programme that has now disappeared) and under the name of the Althytude project (website page in French).
The XCURSOR 13 engine was also on show. This is a multi-fuel engine with versions ranging from diesel to natural gas (including biomethane), hydrogen and renewable fuels. A true Swiss Army knife. What you see here in the photo is the H2 version, a 6-cylinder, 12.9-litre, 520 hp engine. FPT Industrial is highlighting the fact that this engine is more competitive than the fuel cell. The target market is long-haul trucks, heavy construction vehicles and coaches.
The latest addition to the range is the CURSOR 9 H2: a 6-cylinder, 8.7-litre, 310 hp engine. It is designed to power urban and regional HGVs, heavy construction vehicles and urban and interurban buses.
You can read FPT Industrial’s press release here.
Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King
