Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2022 - 18

EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINTS
Both fuel cells
and H2
ICEs
have viable
technology
roadmaps
to improve
efficiency, reduce
environmental
impact and
reduce cost,
according to
Ricardo.
Particularly for fuel-cell applications, one of the largest challenges,
according to Richart, is manufacturing scale. " Finding scale is very
difficult, but you do need to do so with many industries moving at
the same time in order for hydrogen to create a business case, " she
said. " Everybody wants to scale up, but a solution for these [alternate]
industries is very different. " For example, aerospace needs
lightweight systems, while hybrid vehicles need long-term durability.
Clear commercial benchmarks
Cummins has created its New Power Business specifically to manage
the transition from traditional ICE engines to zero-carbon products.
" When we think about hydrogen, we recognize it's not the silver bullet, "
Eckerle explained. " We sell to commercial customers, and commercial
customers live and die on meeting a total cost of ownership.
In some of the earlier sessions, I heard people buy electrified powertrains
for the fun of it. That's not our customer base. "
Eckerle pointed to four benchmarks vs. EVs for a commercial hydrogen
transition. " With hydrogen, you've got about a 10X advantage
on refueling time, " he said. " The second area is on range. We think
that a hydrogen powertrain will get about double the range of a battery
powertrain for the kinds of jobs that our customers have to deliver. "
The third benchmark is the vehicle's energy-to-weight ratio, an
area in which hydrogen powertrains have " about a 10X advantage. "
Flexibility, the fourth benchmark, " is really important for Cummins'
mid-range customers, because the load that they deliver from day-today
varies. Typically, if you're going to buy a vehicle with a battery, you
have to buy a battery large enough to do the worst case, the largest
amount of energy, " Eckerle explained. " So when you don't need all that
storage capability, you're carrying this heavy battery around. "
Hydrogen, by comparison, has a significant cost advantage related
to storage. " If you don't fill the tank with hydrogen because
18 June 2022
you don't need it, you're not carrying that extra storage
around, " he said.
Scalable stacks
Toyota launched the first generation of its Mirai fuelcell
electric sedan (FCEV) in the U.S. in 2015, and its
second-gen in 2021, making it, along with the Hyundai
Nexo, one of only two current light-duty production
FCEVs (Honda ended production of its California-only
Clarity FCEV in 2021). Toyota's Birdsall pointed out
that a key advantage of fuel cell technology is the
gravimetric energy density of hydrogen fuel, permitting
easy scalability of the stack technology.
Toyota installed two Mirai fuel-cell stacks in a
Kenworth Class-8 semi-tractor in 2017, allowing it to haul
80,000 pounds. Success with the prototype led to the
construction of 10 more trucks that are now operating in
and around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
" We think this is just one of many applications where
we can re-power gasoline and diesel with hydrogen and
fuel cell, " Birdsall said. " They are providing clean, quiet
power and great cost of ownership, which is what commercial
fleets care about. You can expect more announcements
coming out of Toyota to that end. "
During the panel's lengthy Q&A, Birdsall noted the
transition to zero-emission driving will be lengthy. " A lot
of states, a lot of governments have grasped onto this
idea of no more ICE. We're banning IC engines, and it's
not going to happen. I mean, it will eventually, at some
point far in the future, " she clarified, " because we're not
going to just snap our fingers and have the infrastructure
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
RICARDO
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2022

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