Swedish furniture giant IKEA has continued its drive for eco-powered delivery with the use of an internal combustion engined (ICE) truck fueled by hydrogen to deliver a 40-tonne load
Around 40 tonnes of IKEA home products have been hauled by a heavy-duty truck equipped with a hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE), according to the furniture giant.
Equipped with Westport’s H2 HPDI technology, developed in Canada, the prototype truck hauled a trailer filled with around 40 tonnes of IKEA home furnishing products in Älmhult, Sweden, in the south of the country 140 miles north of Malmo.
The Canadian fuel system allows diesel-engine manufacturers to run their motors on green hydrogen. Westport says H2 HPDI results in an affordable solution to meet emissions targets and offers higher power and torque than the same engine running on diesel.
The trial saw the demonstration green hydrogen production and refuelling with hydrogen fuel provider Metacon and hydrogen infrastructure firm Hydri.
Scania was also present at the event, and its Senior Product Manager, OIa Henriksson said, “Scania is staying true to its purpose of driving the shift towards more sustainable transport systems, and the technology of using hydrogen in the internal combustion engine is an interesting decarbonisation pathway because it represents an attractive solution with high maturity and quick time to market.”
Just two months ago, Westport completed a demonstration of the H2 HPDI fuel system in a truck hauling a refrigerated trailer in Madrid, Spain.
On the other side of the world in October in Australia IKEA revealed plans to use hydrogen trucks to cut its transport emissions, just one week after adding electric vehicle recharging stations at another of its Australian stores.
The five hydrogen fuel-cell trucks, announced will join the company’s European operations, where they are expected to cut 160 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
The company behind the new mode of transport says it created and delivered the hydrogen vehicles within 18 months, in a move designed to expand the range of IKEA’S low-emission delivery network.
The news comes as the federal government opened expressions of interest for a $2 billion hydrogen fund designed to reduce the cost of producing the renewable gas in the country, and after changes in NSW to temporarily allow more electric truck trials.
