We hear a lot about what major OEMs are working on as they prepare for a zero emission future but projects conducted by key technological innovators in the UK often go unnoticed. At the Cenex Expo last year, a 40-tonne hydrogen fuel cell truck was revealed, developed by the Project ICEBreaker consortium. Partners include Horiba Mira, Intelligent Energy and Viritech with £1.4m of funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) towards the £2.9m project.
“The main objective of the project was to convert a heavy duty diesel truck to a hydrogen fuel cell proof of concept,” Andrea Trevisan, head of strategic sales, net zero solutions and vehicle propulsion at Horiba Mira, said. Each consortium partner came to the project with their own specific R&D goals and later this year, the truck is expected to enter the second phase of development with extensive testing at Horiba Mira’s proving ground.
The project was completed as part of the APC’s advanced route to market demonstrators funding programme. Dan Bunting, head of business development at APC, said: “These are 12 month projects and the programme was put in place to deliver quick turnaround, high impact projects that can demonstrate the capability of zero emission technologies in the marketplace. ICEBreaker demonstrates the long term potential of fuel cells.”
ICEBreaker started out with a 6x2 Volvo FH diesel tractor unit that had its middle axle removed to make space for hydrogen storage tanks. Within the chassis, storage tanks can hold up to 30kg of hydrogen at 700 bar. Chris Hübel, head of engineering at Viritech, said: “One of the key things we wanted to demonstrate was 700 bar storage. Most of the hydrogen trucks so far have used 350 bar pressure. 700 bar is critical for commercial vehicles going forward.”
Two of Intelligent Energy’s 100kW fuel cells were used in the powertrain package and Viritech was responsible for fuel cell and high voltage system integration. As well as working with Viritech on the pressure vessel system, Horiba Mira is using the truck to develop its digital twin technology as this is the first time the company has had access to development and validation cycles for a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle.
Key challenges
Since this technology for road transport is still in its early days, the team encountered a few curveballs along the way, especially given the tight timeframe to complete the project. Greg Harris, chief commercial officer at Intelligent Energy, said: “From the fuel cell side, it was relatively straightforward to integrate those into the vehicle platform but a lot of the peripheral systems like electric motors, batteries and other components suitable for pulling a 40-tonne truck were difficult to get hold of.
“I think it’s also the case that the supply chain is not very mature and this brings its own challenges. In some cases we had to use prototype components initially because there isn’t a production version available yet.”
Hübel also cited availability of components as a struggle: “In the decarbonisation, zero emission space, availability of e-axles and electric motors is still very much a challenge. We were quite restricted on that and the overall vehicle architecture didn’t end up being as we wanted. As a result, we wanted to put an e-axle on there which would give us more room for pressure vessel storage but we couldn’t get hold of one in that lead time.”
With the current configuration, the team anticipates the truck will have a range of around 300km, something which Hübel believes could be increased to 500km with the addition of an e-axle and extra hydrogen storage. It was important to package the hydrogen tanks into the chassis instead of behind the cab to demonstrate that hydrogen trucks can be paired with standard trailers and comply with regulatory length requirements.
Cost insights
At nearly £3m, ICEBreaker was a costly investment in a single vehicle but the project was designed so learnings from this can be carried forward into future hydrogen fuel cell powertrain initiatives.
Discussing current fuel cell pricing, Harris said: “You’re roughly talking about something around $1,000 per kilowatt. It fluctuates a bit depending on the supplier which does still make them a relatively expensive option but that’s really just a factor of volume. The total global production of fuel cells annually is in the tens of thousands of units compared to engines in the tens of millions. That’s where we see this big gap.”
The message remains that as production climbs, prices will come down but external factors like the price and availability of hydrogen as a fuel are presenting more barriers in stimulating demand. Trevisan said: “The availability of hydrogen at a reasonable price is the most limiting factor at the moment.”
Next steps
Later this year, the truck will undergo shakedown testing at Horiba Mira’s proving ground to capture more data about the vehicle. Horiba Mira plans to use this for its digital twin model and to assess things like real world range. Trevisan said: “Our digital twin is based on machine learning so we need a lot of data from the vehicle. Also, for other members of the consortium, they’re keen to have data on how their parts are behaving.”
At this stage, ICEBreaker is not road registered, so testing is restricted to Horiba Mira’s facility. However, the team is exploring options to register the vehicle and offer demonstrations. Considering future outcomes of the project, Harris said: “None of the companies in the consortia are truck manufacturers, so in reality there are two possibilities.
“We could convert existing vehicles using the technology we developed. Given the limited availability of fuel cell trucks, companies that are interested in doing trials could convert an existing vehicle to do that. The second option would be to work with a truck manufacturer to develop a new platform.”
To efficiently cater for the long haul truck market, Hübel identified the need for an e-axle and a more powerful fuel cell system. He said: “We need more than 200kW of fuel cell output, we need 300kW+ to make the vehicle viable.”
Harris added: “We’re also in discussions with a big retailer about doing some trials with the truck. If that goes ahead that will lead to on road trialling in 2026 either in this truck or a new version based on the work we’ve done already.”
Reflecting on the results of the project so far, Bunting said: “All the companies involved have moved the maturity of their technology forward. They’ve learned on the project and learned lessons on the high voltage architecture and how to put the hydrogen storage tanks in there at 700 bar. What they’re doing is building confidence in the technology from a user perspective and from the companies that want to make and sell these.”
Participants in Project ICEBreaker believe hydrogen has a place in the future of road freight. “We have to demonstrate that these technologies are applicable,” Bunting added. “Once you’re dealing with facts and figures and you’ve got a total cost of ownership model from a vehicle that’s been developed and built, that then gives confidence to the marketplace.”
