Bosch deploys first hydrogen fuel-cell truck for live plant logistics in Nuremberg
The 40-ton hydrogen truck is an Iveco truck based on the company’s S-Way Platform. Bosch’s Fuel Cell Power Module (FCPM) is fitted onboard and is expected to increase the vehicle’s range by as much as 800km. It’s the first in-house deployment of its FCPM module, with two others currently used in BMW’s plant logistics.
Currently, the truck is being used to shuttle goods to and from the Bosch plant in Nuremberg by the Schäflein freight forwarding company, which in turn procures the vehicle from truck rental company Hylane. The partners have set a target for the truck to cover 12,000 kilometers per year on a fixed route.
“When we decided to make our plant traffic more climate-friendly, it was clear that we wanted a truck featuring Bosch’s FCPM,” explains Alexander Weichsel, the commercial plant manager in Nuremberg. “This deployment is an important building block that helps us reduce our emissions in logistics. The fact that several thousand trucks with Bosch fuel-cell systems are already on the road worldwide shows that the concept is proving its worth.”
Bosch has stated that this real-world deployment will also act partly as a testbed, as the vehicle will continually feed operational data into further development of its next fuel-cell modules, such as the Compact 190 and Compact 300 models. In the long term, Bosch hopes to establish what it calls a ‘hydrogen value chain’ in Nuremberg – in line with the Bavarian Hydrogen Strategy 2.0. Weichsel said: “The fact we’ve had no problems operating this truck shows that the fuel cell is ready for volume production… The key to a successful hydrogen economy is above all to ensure an abundance of affordable hydrogen and put in place an adequate H2 infrastructure, including in Nuremberg.”
Series production of the FCPM began in mid-2023 in Stuttgart-Feuerbach. The Bosch plant in Bamberg supplies the fuel cell stack for the system, while the Homburg plant supplies other components such as the electric air compressor and the recirculation fan. When series production began, the system was still intended for Iveco’s then partner Nikola, among others. Parallel to Feuerbach, production of the fuel cell drive system also started in Chongqing, China at the time.
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