Daimler Truck’s second part of buyer trials for the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck arrives at a second when heavy-duty decarbonization methods are more and more formed by knowledge from real-world operations relatively than managed take a look at environments.
After logging greater than 225,000 kilometers in its preliminary pilot part, with gasoline consumption ranging between 5.6 and eight.0 kg of liquid hydrogen per 100 km beneath various payloads, the corporate is now widening the scope of its assessments with 5 further companions: Hornbach, Reber Logistik, Teva Germany, Rhenus, and DHL Provide Chain.
The growth displays a broader {industry} must validate hydrogen fuel-cell efficiency throughout numerous logistics profiles. Whereas battery-electric vans dominate short- and medium-distance purposes, long-haul transport — with excessive payloads, irregular route patterns, and tight turnaround schedules — continues to check the boundaries of present applied sciences. Daimler Truck’s transfer towards liquid hydrogen (sLH₂) is positioned as a technical response to those constraints, leveraging greater vitality density to increase operational vary and scale back refueling frequency.
Every accomplice firm will deploy one GenH2 Truck for roughly a 12 months, integrating the automobiles into their established logistics flows relatively than setting up bespoke routes. DHL Provide Chain plans to pair the truck with its totally electrical refrigerated trailer on routes throughout Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia — a mixture designed to check system-level compatibility between zero-carbon applied sciences. This setup will place further load on the truck’s fuel-cell system, providing perception into efficiency beneath temperature-controlled freight circumstances, a phase the place vitality demand is notably greater.
Teva Germany, working beneath the ratiopharm model, will use the truck in nationwide long-haul pharmaceutical distribution. With stringent timing necessities and temperature-sensitive cargo, pharmaceutical logistics add operational self-discipline that might expose potential limitations in refueling availability or automobile planning. At present, the GenH2 refuels completely at devoted sLH₂ stations in Woerth am Rhein and Duisburg — a constraint that Reber Logistik highlights instantly, deploying the truck solely in areas with viable refueling entry. This underscores an industry-wide problem: early hydrogen truck adoption stays carefully tied to localized infrastructure readiness.
Hornbach and Rhenus deliver completely different testing parameters. Hornbach will apply the fuel-cell truck to its recyclable supplies fleet, a long-haul operation that stresses payload capability and steady route reliability. Rhenus, working from its Duisburg logistics hub, will take a look at whether or not hydrogen energy might be successfully built-in into a world cargo community the place effectivity and regional interoperability are central benchmarks.
Assessing Efficiency In opposition to Diesel Requirements
Daimler Truck emphasizes that the GenH2 Truck goals to match the long-distance functionality of diesel tractors — a baseline that heavy-duty decarbonization should in the end meet. The automobile’s 300 kW steady fuel-cell output, supported by a buffer battery for peak masses and regenerative braking, positions it as a technical contender for high-demand corridors. Its 40-ton gross automobile weight and roughly 25-ton payload capability align with present diesel norms, suggesting that operational changes for fleet operators may stay minimal if hydrogen provide constraints are resolved.
Actual-world consumption knowledge from the primary testing part — averaging at a degree aggressive with expectations for fuel-cell long-haul programs — will now be evaluated beneath extra numerous transport profiles. These insights are supposed to information closing design selections for the truck’s series-production variant and inform parallel growth of gross sales and repair buildings.
Whereas infrastructure limitations proceed to form deployment technique, Daimler Truck is already shifting towards commercialization. A small-series manufacturing run of 100 GenH2 tractor models is deliberate for late 2026, marking the corporate’s first structured step towards market-ready fuel-cell long-haul automobiles. The timing locations Daimler among the many early movers within the European hydrogen truck panorama, although the power to scale will rely closely on coordinated growth of sLH₂ refueling networks — an space the place {industry} progress stays uneven.
Because the second part of testing unfolds, the trial companions will generate important knowledge on automobile reliability, refueling logistics, operational economics, and driver expertise.
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