Spain’s first heavy truck powered by hydrogen is under development

The Basque company Cikautxo, the Tecnalia technology center, and Técnicas Reunidas are leading the first entirely Spanish consortium to launch a truck powered by hydrogen and electricity, capable of carrying up to 40 tons. The project, called SHINEFLEET, is actively working on the decarbonization of road freight transport. For this, technological solutions, based on hydrogen, will be developed to promote intelligent and sustainable mobility of heavy transport fleets in order to replace diesel vehicles.

The truck is expected to be in the testing period in 2023. The challenge is to make this vehicle profitable and weigh as little as possible so as not to reduce load capacity. This initiative will result in a hydrogen fuel cell for trucks, and a modular and compact generation system that combines renewable and blue hydrogen.

The project is structured in three different areas:

– The creation of a new intelligent system for the decentralized production of hydrogen with a low carbon footprint.

– The creation of a tractor head that works with this fuel.

– A system that will allow the entire fleet to be interconnected, thus seeking better communication and navigation of the vehicles.

Together with Tecnalia, Técnicas Reunidas, and Cikautxo, companies such as Avia Ingeniería, Carbotainer, Idneo, Fractalia, and FM Logistic participate, as well as the National Hydrogen Center, the Institute of Chemical Technology, the Autonomous and Complutense Universities of Madrid and Eurecat.

Source: Tecnalia