The Hydrogen Heavy Duty Vehicle Industry Group—comprised of hydrogen industry companies Air Liquide, Hyundai, Nel Hydrogen, Nikola Corp., Shell and Toyota—has signed agreements with Tatsuno Corp. and Transfer Oil S.p.A. to industrialize globally-standard 70 MPa hydrogen heavy-duty vehicle high-flow (H70HF) fueling hardware components. The industry group was formed in February 2019 with the goal of addressing hydrogen fueling hardware challenges of achieving the fueling speeds that are needed for heavy-duty applications today.
Other goals include testing and evaluating the hardware’s performance and standardizing the connector design to ensure adoptability throughout the world. This builds upon the collaboration of the hydrogen industry that achieved a global standard fueling interface for light-duty fuel cell electric vehicles.
Tatsuno, an international hydrogen fuel equipment provider founded in 1911, is designing and developing vehicle receptacle and dispenser nozzle and breakaway components, whereas Transfer Oil, a manufacturer of reinforced thermoplastic hoses, is leading the design and development of a hydrogen dispenser fueling hose. The companies anticipate that the fueling hardware will support average hydrogen fueling rates of 10kg/min, which is in line with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Technical Targets for Hydrogen-Fueled Long-Haul Tractor-Trailer Trucks. Testing is planned at an independent test facility and scheduled to commence in Q4 of 2021, with preliminary performance and safety results available in Q1 of 2022.
