The GenH2 hydrogen-powered electric truck presented last year is currently being tested on the site of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Wörth, Germany. Since April, the GenH2 electric truck prototype has been tested.
The driver's cabin of the fuel cell semi-trailer is very spacious. There are three display screens on the dashboard, and you can see how the electrical energy flows in the vehicle. A small device is attached behind the steering wheel, an instrument panel that allows the driver to operate the fuel cell system, the tank system and the HV system. It took half a year plus planning and construction in advance to assemble the truck.
Daimler Trucks is happy with the results of the tests conducted up until now. In the first few weeks, the electric vehicle covered several hundred kilometres on the rolling test bench. All fuel cell truck prototypes are assembled in Wörth (Germany), including the GenH2. The entire fleet of vehicles is tested for functionality, service life and strength. The developers are also looking at driver dynamics and behaviour at different temperatures and wind strengths. The requirements for the GenH2 electric truck are based on the conventional Mercedes-Benz Actros truck: 1.2 million kilometres, ten years of operation and a total of 25,000 operating hours.
The test vehicle will be driven on 15 different types of roads. These roads are constructed in such a way that one kilometre of test track can be compared to 200 kilometres of real roads. For this purpose, Daimler Trucks analyzed the lanes of countries all over the world. Tests on public roads are planned for this year, and the first customers should get the GenH2 hydrogen-powered electric truck in 2023.
According to the vehicle manufacturer, the GenH2 electric truck is a completely redesigned vehicle with completely new elements. The fuel cell system and the fully electric drive train received special attention during the tests. A core element is also the cooling and heating system, which is supposed to keep the individual components at operating temperature.
