Asko, Norway’s largest convenience goods wholesaler, and Scania, part of Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH, will start testing trucks with hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrain. The hydrogen gas will be
produced locally, using solar cells. The trucks will run in distribution service with
distances of almost 500 km (311 miles). . . .
Asko has the ambition to achieve a climate-neutral business, where distribution of goods will take place using trucks, which run on renewable fuels and in the longer term completely on electricity. Experience from pilot testing of vehicles and the plant, which will be built for local hydrogen gas production, will form the basis for Asko’s decision on a continued investment in hydrogen gas propulsion. The research project is partly financed by the Norwegian government.
Scania will supply three-axle distribution trucks with a gross weight of 27 tonnes, in which the internal combustion engine in the powertrain will be replaced by an electric engine powered by electricity from fuel cells and hydrogen gas on board the vehicle. The rest of the powertrain is composed of the same standard components used in the hybrid trucks and buses that Scania already delivers. Three trucks will form part of the research project, with an option for one further vehicle.
- In the near future, we will see fully battery-powered electric vehicles in service, primarily in sensitive urban areas as they are limited by their battery capacity and charging potential. Our own trials of battery-powered electric trucks and buses show that further development is required of batteries, which have the capacity to store the energy needed for long-haul goods and passenger transport before the internal combustion engine can be fully replaced.
—Nils-Gunnar Vågstedt. . . .