Hydrogen Vehicle Systems, a new UK zero emissions heavy-duty vehicle manufacturer plans to reveal what it says will be the country's "first indigenous hydrogen HGV" next month.
The Glasgow-based outfit said its hydrogen-electric technology will give the 40-tonne vehicle a driving range of up to 370 miles and a refuelling time of 15-20 minutes.
It will unveil the vehicle, which it says is designed and built from the ground up in the UK, at the Commercial Vehicle show on 18 April.
With UK HGVs the second largest contributors to transport emissions, producing around 18% of road transport carbon dioxide emissions while making up only 5% of total vehicle miles, HVS chif executive Jawad Khursheed said: “Thanks to the fresh thinking and ground-up approach, HVS has created an HGV that offers the complete package of game-changing technology and driver ergonomics.
“The state-of-the-art fuel cell stack coupled with the best in the industry hydrogen tanks ensures rapid refuelling times and maximises time on the road – delivering unrivalled total cost of ownership to our customers”.
In December HVS received a £15mln grant from the UK government-backed Advanced Propulsion Centre.
In February its Hub2Hub consortium was awarded £6.6mln by the Centre for Connected Autonomous Vehicles to develop and deliver an autonomous zero-emission HGV for the UK market. Vehicles trials, due to begin in 2024 with supermarket group Asda, which is part of the consortium, with Fusion Processing Ltd’s providing its CAVStar automated drive system.