Heavy duty vehicles can be the future of hydrogen
The role of hydrogen in future mobility is not negligible, even if it is not the best solution for all modes of transport. At the Budapest Hydrogen Summit, a special session was held on the topic, and there was an opportunity to test drive the Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.
While most of the participants agreed that one of the barriers to the development of the hydrogen economy is the lack of demand, Andreas Noky, Project Manager for Hydrogen Refuelling Stations at Messer, presented the unique approach of the company. He explained how Messer is creating demand by contacting potential customers and explaining the possible applications of hydrogen. The hydrogen bus demonstration project, organised together with the Hungarian Mobility Development Agency (HUMDA), was a similar initiative. Six Hungarian cities had the opportunity to test hydrogen buses. During the project, the bus went more than 45 thousand kilometres, while it was refuelled 279 times. The most challenging part of the programme was reinstalling the mobile refuelling station every month in another city. But presenting the capability and advantages of hydrogen buses can create a future market for them.
He also mentioned as an important project in a CEE region, the upgrade of the refuelling station at Slovnaft’s Bratislava refinery, which provides a higher pressure of 350 bar for refuelling hydrogen buses and trucks.
“Passenger cars, like Toyota Mirai, were important projects during the development phase, but it is not the future,” said Mr Noky when CEENERGYNEWS asked him about the future of hydrogen in mobility. He strongly believes that hydrogen will play a more crucial role in heavy-duty mobility. In long-distance transport, hydrogen is a better solution than carrying big battery packs. On the other hand, for heavy machinery in forestry or mining industries, hydrogen seems to be a better solution again.
Even if the density of refuelling stations in Central and Eastern Europe is not sufficient, and hydrogen cars will not spread soon in the region, Toyota is continuing to work on reducing the production costs. According to Andrzej Szałek, Advisor to the Board at Toyota Central Europe, the company estimates that there will be 800,000 fuel cell vehicles by 2030.