Verne completes heavy-duty Class 8 truck powered by CcH2

Verne (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) and its industry partners announce the completion of a heavy-duty Class 8 truck powered by cryo-compressed hydrogen (CcH₂). Verne’s CcH₂ fuel storage system maximizes hydrogen storage density, increasing vehicle range while decreasing vehicle weight and storage system cost. Verne is beginning drive testing of the truck in advance of multiple commercial pilots.

Verne’s CcH₂ technology involves cooling and compressing hydrogen to achieve the maximum hydrogen density of 73 gallons/liter, a 33% improvement over liquid hydrogen and an 87% improvement over traditional 700-bar compressed gas hydrogen. Heavy-duty transportation is responsible for 12% of global CO₂ emissions, and Verne reports that current zero-emission options fail to meet the range and payload requirements of heavy-duty truck fleets. Increasing hydrogen density enables heavy-duty vehicles to store more energy onboard while using fewer heavy, expensive storage tanks.

The cryo-compressed hydrogen truck uses Diesel Tech Industries’ (DTI, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) Guardian hydrogen diesel system (HDS), which is a retrofit of a traditional diesel engine to enable the vehicle to run on a blend of diesel and hydrogen. DTI’s Guardian HDS can serve as an important bridge technology for the trucking industry, as it enables fleets to trial hydrogen fueling and driving without requiring investment in a new fleet of trucks.

Together, Verne and DTI are demonstrating the range and payload improvements of high-density CcH₂ fuel with the Guardian. Verne will conduct demonstrations and commercial pilots with vehicle manufacturers and fleets in Canada and the U.S. using dual fuel engines, hydrogen combustion engines and hydrogen fuel cells.

“This collaboration enables us to maximize onboard hydrogen storage while maintaining the flexibility and reliability of the diesel engine,” says Rebecca Goldsack, COO of DTI, who led integration of the vehicle. “The seamless retrofit of this dual-fuel solution — without altering the truck's wheelbase — meets our customers’ demands for extended range and fewer tanks, all while enabling the use of sleeper cabs.”

Verne previously achieved a CcH₂ storage record during a stationary demonstration of a 29-kilogram storage system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and completed drive testing of a fuel cell electric vehicle powered by CcH₂. Verne is also applying its technology to hydrogen densification and distribution, intending to bring down the cost of delivering hydrogen by as much as 40%. This distribution platform is said to accelerate the use of hydrogen in several sectors that currently rely on diesel, including heavy-duty trucks and off-road equipment.

“Demonstrating the first Class 8 truck powered by cryo-compressed hydrogen will be a major milestone for the hydrogen industry and a big step toward decarbonizing trucking at scale,” says Ted McKlveen, Verne co-founder and CEO.

Verne’s CcH₂ truck adds to the momentum behind the 5,000 Hydrogen Vehicle Challenge, presented by Edmonton Global (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), which aims to deploy 5,000 hydrogen or dual-free vehicles in Western Canada over the next 5 years. Verne is also supported on this project by Alberta Innovates (Edmonton) through its Hydrogen Center of Excellence program.