Hydra Energy delivers first hydrogen-converted heavy-duty truck

The development team at Hydra Energy

Hydra Energy has reported delivery of what the company claims is the first hydrogen-converted, heavy-duty truck to a fleet customer.

The Canadian company delivered the truck to Lodgewood Enterprises, a short- and long-haul trucking company based in Prince George, British Columbia. The truck is the first of 12 scheduled for delivery.

Each of the trucks uses Hydra’s fully-reversible, hydrogen-diesel conversion kit. The hydrogen-diesel co-combustion injection system is said to have no impact on fuel efficiency, range, power, torque, or payload capacity, while cutting carbon emissions by up to 40%.

The conversions, offered at no cost to Lodgewood, have been in development since 2012. They have undergone three years of on-road testing, covering 200,000 km (124,000 miles) in various temperatures and across assorted terrain types.

The trucks will run on low-carbon hydrogen, supplied by Hydra at a fixed discount below the cost of diesel. The company is sourcing its hydrogen from Chemtrade, an industrial chemicals manufacturer.

“The first truck delivery is not only a major milestone for Hydra but also for clean trucking overall and Canada’s push for net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Hydra Energy’s CEO, Jessica Verhagen.

“Hydrogen-fuelled transportation is often talked about in the future, especially when it comes to truck fleets that can take years to turn over. We’ve proven with our innovative HaaS business model and practical retrofit approach for exiting trucks that scalable, affordable hydrogen-powered trucking is a reality today,” she said.

In addition to the conversion kits, Hydra further pays for and installs the fuelling stations.

Lodgewood said that the conversions will cut CO2 emissions by more than 800 tonnes per year. The company can now benefit from the CleanBC Heavy-Duty Vehicle Efficiency Program incentives, administered by the BC Trucking Association.

Other fleet owners in the Prince George area which operate roundtrips of no longer than 1,000km (621 miles) can test the converted trucks. Further conversions are being offered for later in 2022.