Commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus will be the first European truck producer to launch a small series with a hydrogen combustion engine. The initially planned small series of around 200 units is to be delivered to customers in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland and selected non-European countries as early as 2025.

The “MAN hTGX”, as the vehicle will be called, offers an alternative zero-emission drive variant for special applications, for example for transporting heavy goods – such as construction work, tank transport or timber transport. The hTGX can also be an environment-friendly alternative to battery-electric trucks for use in areas without sufficient charging infrastructure or for markets where sufficient hydrogen is already available. MAN will hand over its battery-electric truck to customers for the first time this year and scale it up from 2025. 

“We are continuing to focus on battery-electric vehicles to decarbonise road freight transport. These currently have clear advantages over other drive concepts in terms of energy efficiency and operating and energy costs. However, trucks powered by hydrogen combustion engines are a useful addition for special applications and markets,” says Friedrich Baumann, Executive Board Member of MAN Truck & Bus responsible for Sales and Customer Solutions.

“We anticipate that we will be able to best serve the vast majority of our customers’ transport applications with battery-powered trucks. For special applications, hydrogen combustion or, in the future, fuel cell technology is a suitable supplement. The hydrogen combustion engine H45 is based on the proven D38 diesel engine and is produced at the engine and battery plant in Nuremberg. The use of familiar technology enables us to enter the market at an early stage and thus provides a decisive impetus for the ramp-up of the hydrogen infrastructure. With the hTGX, we have now added an attractive product to our zero-emission portfolio,” he adds.

The hydrogen drive is particularly suitable for special transport tasks that require a special axle configuration or where there is no space for the battery on the frame due to the need for truck body work. The MAN hTGX offers high payloads and maximum ranges of up to 600 km in its initially offered 6x2 and 6x4 axle variants. The H45 hydrogen combustion engine used has an output of 383 kW or 520 hp and a torque of 2,500 Nm at 900-1300 rpm. The direct injection of hydrogen into the engine ensures particularly fast power delivery.

“With hydrogen compressed to 700 bar (CG H2) and a tank capacity of 56 kg, the vehicle can be refuelled in less than 15 minutes, Baumann says

Dr Frederik Zohm, Executive Board Member for Research & Development, comments: “At MAN’s Nuremberg site, we have the most innovative engine technology and decades of experience in the use of hydrogen as a fuel. We are utilising this and presenting a real MAN with the MAN hTGX. The new hydrogen combustion truck is based on the tried-and-tested TG vehicle series and impresses with the highest quality and uncomplicated maintenance. We will continue to research fuel cell technology based on battery technology and hydrogen.”