Gaseous hydrogen is the default for fuel-cell autos, however Daimler Truck is experimenting with liquid hydrogen for giant business autos—and it is a expertise that has the potential to cross over to passenger autos, finally.

The truck maker has partnered with Linde Engineering to arrange a public liquid hydrogen station in Wörth am Rhein, Germany. Referred to as sLH2, it’ll gas Mercedes-Benz GenH2 vehicles from 5 corporations collaborating in a buyer trial beginning later this 12 months, in keeping with a Daimler press launch.

The station makes use of a brand new kind of pump that raises the strain of liquid hydrogen, turning it into supercooled liquid hydrogen, in keeping with Daimler. This enables for increased storage density, a smaller footprint for the station, and decrease power consumption, the corporate claims.

Daimler sLH2 liquid hydrogen fueling station

Refueling velocity can be claimed to be akin to diesel vehicles. Pumps can add 621 miles of vary in 10 to 15 minutes, Daimler claims, whereas sufficient liquid hydrogen might be saved onsite for 10 hours of continuous refueling, with further capability simply added by refilling the tanks.

The draw back is that, to keep up a liquid somewhat than a gaseous state, hydrogen should be cooled to -423 levels Fahrenheit. The set up additionally requires particular supplies. So the price of implementing such an answer could also be prohibitive.

This is not the primary we have heard of long-haul liquid-hydrogen semis from Daimler. The corporate has been discussing liquid hydrogen since exhibiting an idea semi truck in 2020. That truck had the identical GenH2 badging as those for use within the upcoming buyer trial, however with extra futuristic styling.

Daimler sLH2 liquid hydrogen fueling station

Liquid hydrogen tech can be one thing that Airbus has been engaged on for jet engines—as a substitute for gas cells and electrical turboprops. Though storage points stay advanced there, too, some see it as a alternative for jet gas.

In the meantime Nikola is pushing forward with its Hyla refueling community, which is designed round gaseous hydrogen, as a part of a strategic plan to determine as much as 60 hydrogen refueling options within the coming years.