Daimler Truck # HydrogenRecordRun: Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck breaks 1000-kilometer milestone with one refill of liquid hydrogen

- A prototype Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck covered a distance of 1,047 km between Woerth am Rhein and Berlin
- Daimler Truck reaches another milestone with the #HydrogenRecordRun, as part of its twin-track strategy with hydrogen and battery-powered vehicles
- Andreas Gorbach, Member of the Management Board of Daimler Truck AG, Head of Truck Technology "The ideal field of application for fuel cell trucks lies in flexible and demanding long-distance transportation tasks. Hydrogen in trucking is anything but hot air: We have proven this impressively by breaking the 1,000 kilometer mark with one refueling."

Daimler Truck has successfully demonstrated that hydrogen fuel cell technology can be the right solution to decarbonize flexible and demanding long-haul traffic. A public-road approved prototype of the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck completed Daimler Truck's #HydrogenRecordRun over a distance of 1,047km with one tank of liquid hydrogen.

Powered by a cellcentric fuel cell system and equipped with a liquid hydrogen tank system, the race began on Monday, Sept. 25, in the afternoon at the Mercedes-Benz Truck Customer Center in Woerth am Rhein and ended on Tuesday morning, Sept. 26, in the German capital of Berlin. The truck completed the trip fully loaded and with a total train weight of 40 tons under real conditions, with no CO2 emissions during the entire trip. The record drive with closed tanks and verified mileage was independently confirmed by an inspection document from TÜV Rheinland.

Together with Rainer Müller-Finkeldei, Head of Product Development Mercedes-Benz Truckse and Rhineland-Palatinate State Secretary for Economic Affairs Petra Dick-Walther, he sent the hydrogen truck on its journey for the international media: "Today is a great day! A hydrogen-powered truck leaves from Rhineland-Palatinate all the way to Berlin. We are proud that such a far-reaching innovation comes from Rhineland-Palatinate and was developed and tested at the Woerth plant. This testifies to the innovative spirit of Rhineland-Palatinate and will change the transport sector forever. It marks a milestone in the transformation and decarbonization of the transport sector - thanks to new technologies. The journey of the GenH2 truck from Rhineland-Palatinate to Berlin makes this concrete." 

After the successful record run, Andreas Gorbach, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG, Head of Truck Technology, drove the truck across the finish line at the Ministergarten in Berlin: "To decarbonize transport, we need both battery-electric and hydrogen-powered drive technologies. The ideal field of application for fuel cell trucks lies in flexible and demanding long-distance transportation tasks. By breaking the 1,000-kilometer milestone with one tank, we have now impressively demonstrated: Hydrogen in trucks is anything but hot air, and we are making good progress toward series production. At the same time, our record run today is a reminder that decarbonizing transportation requires two other factors in addition to the right propulsion technologies: a green energy infrastructure and competitive costs compared to conventionally powered vehicles." 

Prior to the race, the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck was refueled with liquid hydrogen at Daimler Truck's fueling station at the company's development and testing center in Woerth. The hydrogen supplied by Air Liquide is of renewable origin, as it was produced from biomethane with guarantees of origin. During the refueling process, cryogenic liquid hydrogen of minus 253 degrees Celsius was filled into two 40-kg tanks on either side of the truck chassis. Thanks to the particularly good insulation of the vehicle tanks, the hydrogen could be kept at temperature long enough without active cooling. Both tanks were sealed by TÜV Rheinland before the start of the #HydrogenRecordRun. 

Daimler Truck favors liquid hydrogen in the development of hydrogen-based powertrains. In this aggregate state, the energy carrier has a significantly higher energy density relative to volume compared to gaseous hydrogen. As a result, more hydrogen can be carried, significantly increasing the operating radius and enabling comparable vehicle performance to that of a conventional diesel truck.  

Daimler Truck consistently follows a dual-track strategy with hydrogen and battery-powered vehicles

As one of the world's leading commercial vehicle manufacturers, Daimler Truck is committed to the Paris Climate Agreement. The goal is to offer new vehicles in our global core markets (Europe, U.S., Japan) that run carbon neutrally by 2039. Battery electric trucks are the ideal choice for distribution transport and for long-haul traffic with regular use on plannable routes with suitable distances and charging capabilities. However, especially for highly flexible and particularly demanding applications in heavy transport and long-haul traffic, hydrogen-based drives may be a better solution. In addition, the availability of suitable infrastructure and sufficient green electricity are crucial for a successful transition to emission-free technologies. Daimler Truck is convinced that fast and cost-optimized coverage of this energy demand is only possible with both technologies.  

Berlin to Berlin: hydrogen trucks in their third year of development 

Three years ago, on Sept. 16, 2020, Daimler Truck announced in Berlin to invest on a large scale in hydrogen technology. CEO Martin Daum presented the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck Concept to the public for the first time to underscore the company's technology strategy. This was followed by the establishment of cellcentric, a joint venture with the Volvo Group, which will commission one of Europe's largest fuel cell production facilities. Since 2021, the first prototypes of the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck have been extensively tested and recently proved their capabilities on the Brenner Pass, one of Europe's busiest and most challenging transit routes. The successful #HydrogenRecordRun now marks another milestone on the road to sustainable transport: the first fuel cell trucks are expected to be tested in the hands of customers in the next few years, while the goal remains firmly set to introduce the series version of the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck in the second half of the decade.