A partnership of leading automotive technology companies confirmed its aim to radically overhaul the architecture of clean hydrogen powertrains.
It wants to create a new and commercially competitive 44-tonne proof of concept truck for heavy goods vehicle manufacturers and operators.
With funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre, Viritech, HORIBA MIRA and Intelligent Energy will bring together their market-leading capabilities to deliver engineering solutions for the challenge of decarbonising the 500,000 HGVs currently in operation on UK roads.
These currently produce a disproportionate 19% of all of the country’s transport emissions, a figure that is forecast to grow as the size of the national fleet increases.
A 44-tonne battery electric truck requires five tonnes of batteries, cutting the payload by up to 20% and costing £40,000 per year in lost revenue.
Hydrogen fuel cells present a far more commercially viable alternative.
The partnership between Viritech, HORIBA MIRA and Intelligent Energy aims optimise the architecture of hydrogen powertrain for the specific use case of an HGV and deliver a proof of concept truck for OEM and operator testing by late 2024.