hydrogen-dual transport FIRST HYDROGENDIESEL DUALFUEL TRUCK LAUNCHED IN NZ

The paintwork gleams in blue and silver. There are a few snazzy LED lights but you’ve got to look hard to tell this DAF truck is any different. There’s just one main giveaway: a couple of gas cylinders behind the cab, mounted just forward of the second axles. They contain hydrogen gas and they make this truck unique in New Zealand – for now.

We’re at Teretonga Park in Invercargill for the launch of trucking company HWR’s first dual-fuel truck, which it believes will be a gamechanger for the industry.

I climb up into the cab and once again, there’s nothing radically different. It’s a comfortable, ergonomic cab with all the main controls within easy reach for driver, Hydrogen Project key account manager Craig McKenzie. There’s just one main difference: a control that lets him switch effortlessly from running on pure diesel to a mix of diesel and hydrogen. It’s all done by a precision computercontrolled injection system. The technology is complex but it’s super-simple to use. The only other difference is a dial that shows how much diesel and how much hydrogen the truck is using: right now, 42 percent hydrogen.

“It feels just like a truck,” says Craig. A very nice one with an automatic gearbox, to be sure, but the available torque feels no different from a conventional pure diesel model. It has the same DAF 12.9-litre six-cylinder inline Paccar engine, which meets the latest Euro 6 emissions standards.

“One of the key success criteria is you don’t notice that the hydrogen is active,” says Gareth Wishart, HWR Group General Manager Innovation. He says the truck can also carry the same payload as a conventional truck at 58 tonnes, with no heavy load displaced. That is because of where the gas cylinders are mounted. They hold 25kg of hydrogen and 430 litres of diesel. Range is 450 km before the hydrogen tanks need to be refilled, with the truck still able to run on just diesel. (Precise fuel consumption figures will be monitored closely. A British company, which already has dual-fuel trucks in operation, has worked with HWR on the project and is sharing its results.)

A team of HWR experts is overseeing the dual-fuel project. It represents a $15 million investment by the group. Each truck costs about $150,000 to convert it, although costs are likely to come down.

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