When experts talk about the future of energy saving, technologies are often portrayed as winners or losers.
“Solar will beat nuclear.”
“Lithium iron phosphate will dominate lithium nickel manganese cobalt.”
“Geothermal is a better bet than the tide.”
Nowhere is this competition more pronounced than in the long-haul trucking industry where hydrogen is battling for supremacy against battery-powered electricity.
But according to Hexagon Purus, there’s room for everyone at the party, at least for now.
The California branch of Norwegian parent company Hexagon Composites recently established a US branch in Ontario, California, which is independently listed and focuses on zero-emission solutions for trucking. It’s still early days, but during a tour of the facility last week, I was able to chat with executives about how the future might unfold and how the company’s strategy informs both the opportunity and the uncertainty surrounding the transition.
The debate around how best to decarbonize long-haul trucking has been going on for several years now, and two technologies have emerged as the first. Earlier this year, I mentioned this technological arms race in our newsletterbut a little recap never hurts.
In one corner is the electric truck, which stores energy in a battery and uses it to drive an electric motor.
In the other corner, there is the fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), which carries hydrogen on board and uses a fuel cell to convert the gas into electricity which drives an electric motor.
Fuel cell electric vehicles deliver more power per volume and per weight than today’s best batteries. And because of that, they offer longer distances, which is huge for long-haul trucking. Hydrogen tanks can also be quickly filled or swapped, meaning drivers don’t have to wait for batteries to recharge.
But hydrogen also faces major headwinds. There are currently only 54 hydrogen fueling stations in the United States, and each is in California. On the other hand, electricity is ubiquitous. The network, while far from perfect and certainly not ready to support a predominantly electric vehicle nation, is already installed and there are nearly 50,000 electric vehicle chargers spread across the country. Nor is there enough green hydrogen to power the country’s truck fleet. But where some might see an obstacle, Hexagon sees an opportunity.
Engineers check the rpm of an engine at the Hexagon Purus site in Ontario, California.
Photo by David Shultz
Hexagon Composites, the parent company, began manufacturing hydrogen storage tanks.
These tanks are similar to the propane tank you use to fuel a grill or heater. But hydrogen is a much more difficult molecule to store than natural gas or propane: it’s lighter and escapes through smaller holes, which means tanks have to be made to higher standards. It is also corrosive to metal, which means Hexagon’s tanks are coated in an inert plastic. FCEVs, if they spread, represent a huge opportunity to develop this activity.
In addition to the tanks themselves, the company manufactures racks to transport the tanks and instruments to inspect and certify these tanks. If hydrogen is going to catch on, the United States will need a way to ship the gas across the country. Hexagon believes that its cylinders, transport and storage technologies are perfectly positioned to meet this challenge.
This is where Purus comes in. Major truck manufacturers like Volvo, Daimler and Freightliner have at least some of their chips invested in fuel cell technologies. Hexagon Purus is working with these industry giants to integrate their hydrogen tanks into the fuel cells of these trucks. If the technology catches on, the trucking giants will likely take on the integration themselves, but Hexagon Purus CEO Morten Holum says smaller fleets – street sweepers, boom trucks, construction, drayage, etc – will still need the service… and the tanks. Right now, the technology is firmly in the prototyping stage, and Holum believes a change is likely still three to five years away. Hexagon only has 20 FCEV trucks on the road. But each truck offers up to 800 miles of range, certainly long enough to completely disrupt the diesel truck industry.
Initially, when I visited the Hexagon Purus factory, I couldn’t help but wonder if all the hydrogen technology in development was about to become obsolete by the time someone develops a battery capable of carrying a fully loaded tractor-trailer 600 miles. Truckers are only allowed to drive 8 hours per shift, so even though they average 70 miles per hour, that means a driver can only drive 560 miles in one shift. Tesla’s range figures should always be taken with a grain of salt, but their upcoming Semi platform is said to have a range of 300 or 500 miles (on flat ground). The Semi rig is currently in the process of receiving EPA certification, suggesting deliveries could begin soon. While 500 miles might not translate to enough real-world range to entice the longest of long-haul truckers, signs seem to suggest the day is coming.
The California branch of Norwegian parent company Hexagon Composites recently established a US branch in Ontario, California, which is independently listed and focuses on zero-emission solutions for trucking. Photo by David Shultz
But in the back corner of Hexagon’s garage, I found the answer. They are also working on a battery platform. The company builds 220 kWh battery packs with cells from well-known brands and integrates them into the trucks, up to three at a time. For an operation that currently makes its money selling hydrogen cylinders and accessories, that’s a hell of a hurdle. But Holum says the company — at least the Purus arm — is actually quite “tech agnostic.”
“Of course, if you had a battery that was 20% the weight of today’s batteries and you could charge in 15 minutes, hydrogen wouldn’t be a long-term fuel for trucks,” Holum says. But that technology isn’t here yet, and decarbonizing trucking is a job that needs to start today. “The problem we have now is not that one solution outweighs the other,” he says. “It’s that both solutions are really necessary, and there are not enough [supply].”
Holum believes that over the next 10 years there will be room and demand for both technologies in the trucking industry, with battery electric vehicles taking jobs with shorter duty cycles – things like drayage and last mile delivery – while FCEVs handle long reach jobs with the heaviest loads.
Beyond that, batteries can improve to the point of winning the market, but Holum also points out that FCEVs still use batteries and therefore also benefit from improvements in technology. Hydrogen itself can also improve. Hexagon is experimenting with storing the molecule as a liquid instead of a gas. Although this requires even higher pressures, it would allow considerably more energy to be stored in the same volume.
After ten years, it’s anyone’s guess how technologies will evolve, says Holum, but with irons in so many different fires, Hexagon is trying to position itself for whatever the future may hold.
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