EV Trucks Face a Fueling Dilemma --- Technology-sharing deal between Toyota and Daimler signals onset of costlier times for big-rig makers.

"If you thought shifting from gas engines to electric vehicles was complex for the likes of Ford and General Motors, spare a thought for heavy-truck manufacturers.

Whereas most passenger-vehicle makers have followed Tesla down the single track of using battery technology to reduce carbon emissions, their peers in the big-rig business are juggling several options. Besides batteries, there are hydrogen fuel cells and even internal-combustion engines that might run on hydrogen. As Martin Daum, chief executive of Freightliner owner Daimler Truck, pointed out on Tuesday, the industry needs to fund these additional technologies without additional vehicle sales.

The occasion was a news conference to discuss Daimler's deal to merge its Japanese truck brand Fuso with scandal-struck local peer Hino, which is controlled by Toyota. The companies talked a lot about the need to pool resources. Fuso and Hino will combine everything except their sales operations, while Daimler and Toyota also will collaborate on future technologies, notably hydrogen.

The deal might be a warning to investors that technological change is about to get more expensive for truck manufacturers, which are only just starting to increase output of EVs using battery technology borrowed from the car industry. The vast sums car companies are plowing into battery factories to lift capacity set an ominous precedent.

Electric-truck sales are still very low. As of February, Sweden's Volvo, which has emerged as the early market leader, had sold only about 4,300 EVs since it started producing them in 2019. 

Yet sales will need to rise to meet aggressive regulatory targets. In California, for example, manufacturers will be required to sell specific shares of zero-emission vehicles, starting with an ambitious 9% for the 2024 model year.

Battery technology is a good fit for medium-duty trucks that distribute goods over shorter distances, but top truck makers still see hydrogen as necessary for long-range products. To cover more than 600 miles, say, trucks would need either huge quantities of expensive, heavy batteries or long recharging breaks, which might cost trucking companies money in downtime. The theoretical appeal of hydrogen is that it is light and, like diesel, could be piped into a truck in 10 to 15 minutes to refuel it.

If anything, the low-key launch of Tesla's Semi truck has reinforced the need for something other than batteries. The company said in April that the product was still in "pilot production" and, despite a headline industry-leading range of 500 miles, hasn't disclosed detailed specifications. Its launch customer, PepsiCo, mainly seems to use it to ship unusually light cargoes of potato chips, underlining the technology's limitations.

But hydrogen, too, has long been held back by some big practical weaknesses -- notably refueling infrastructure. One of the objectives of the collaboration between Toyota and Daimler is setting the standard for refueling so that the technology isn't hobbled by competing approaches. Hydrogen is usually piped as a gas under pressure, but the pressure used varies, and some companies also see longer-term potential in liquefying it at superlow temperatures.

Daimler and Volvo, which are the two largest truck manufacturers globally, are both still testing hydrogen trucks, with a view to starting mass production in the second half of the decade. Infrastructure is likely to improve: The European Union recently set a target of having hydrogen fueling stations every 124 miles along the region's key trunk routes by 2031. The snags in the battery supply chain as EV output has increased also lend weight to the argument that alternative technologies can be complementary rather than competitive.

One intriguing wild card is the potential for truck-charging infrastructure to change the car business. "Why just leave it to the heavy trucks?" says Thomas Becker, head of sustainability and mobility at BMW, which has recently started to talk up the potential of hydrogen cars after a period of playing them down.

However the multitrack EV path unfolds for trucks, it is likely to be costly. For big rigs, a challenging technology transition is only just beginning." [1]

1. EV Trucks Face a Fueling Dilemma --- Technology-sharing deal between Toyota and Daimler signals onset of costlier times for big-rig makers. Wilmot, Stephen. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 02 June 2023: B.12.