How green hydrogen is quietly becoming the backbone of clean heavy transport

We talk a lot about the electric car — and rightly so. In the city and for the daily commute, battery-electric is often the obvious choice. But a quieter shift is underway in the corner where batteries hit their limits: heavy transport. Trucks, buses, ships, ports and, in time, even aviation. There, weight, range and refuelling time suddenly become decisive — and that is where green hydrogen steps in.

This is no longer a distant promise. The real-world examples are stacking up.

From the lab to the public road

Volvo Trucks is already running heavy trucks with a hydrogen combustion engine on public roads, with a commercial launch planned before 2030. Daimler Truck is bringing a small series of 100 NextGenH2 trucks running on liquid hydrogen to customers, targeting a range of more than 1,000 kilometres. Scania is testing on European corridors together with Gruber Logistics, and in Belgium, Colruyt is already the first retailer running 44-tonne hydrogen trucks in daily operations. What was a pilot a few years ago is now simply work.

How it works — the short version

The principle is simple. Take renewable electricity, say from solar panels. Run it through an electrolyser that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. What you are left with is a clean fuel you can store, move and use again at the right moment — in a fuel cell or in a combustion engine. No tailpipe emissions, no fossil input.

Why now?

Three things are coming together at once.

First, electrolyser costs are falling fast. In Chinese factories an electrolyser now rolls off the line for around 343 dollars per kilowatt, against more than 1,200 dollars in the West. Analysts at Bloomberg estimate this could cut the global production cost of green hydrogen by roughly 30 percent. In laboratories, new electrodes and processes are pushing the cost price towards just a few euros per kilo.

Second, governments are backing hydrogen corridors for freight and ports. In Belgium, Atawey is delivering three refuelling stations built specifically for heavy transport, together good for more than 7 tonnes of hydrogen per day and fully compliant with the European AFIR standard. Germany tightened its quota system, allowing the first stations to cut the price at the pump by around 10 percent. And the Netherlands has written into law a growing share for green hydrogen-based fuels in transport — spread across road, inland shipping, maritime and aviation.

Third, fleet operators want a path to zero emissions that does not eat into their business model. Refuelling in under ten minutes, a range that covers a full working day and no loss of payload: for anyone on the road all day, every minute and every kilo counts. For heavy and intensive transport — often in places where the electricity grid is already full (grid congestion) — hydrogen offers a way to sidestep infrastructure bottlenecks.

Where does hydrogen win first?

In long-haul road transport the advantage is clearest: long distances, little charging time, plenty of weight. But the real surprises sometimes sit in the corners. In the port of Seville, the H2Tractor — a hydrogen terminal tractor — hauled up to 95 tonnes and refuelled in under five minutes. In Liège, a hydrogen plant is coming online that will feed not only trucks but inland vessels too. And even in light mobility, patents are surfacing for hydrogen scooters with swappable cartridges. The hydrogen ecosystem does not lean on a single vehicle type; it is growing across the board.

The hard part isn't the chemistry

Splitting water is not the problem. The real challenge is the economics and the system design. A plant that turns sunshine into hydrogen has to be sized smartly: how many panels, how much storage, how do you match supply and demand? With digital models you can simulate such a plant in full before the first panel goes into the ground. That is where the difference is made between a nice idea and a profitable refuelling point.

Not either-or, but both

The coming decade is not about battery or hydrogen. It is about battery and hydrogen, each in its own lane. Battery-electric for the city and the daily drive, green hydrogen for the heavy work where weight, distance and refuelling time tip the balance. Two clean solutions that complement each other — and together move the needle towards zero emissions.

Sources

• Volvo Trucks / Cespira — HPDI hydrogen engine
• Daimler Truck — NextGenH2 Truck
• Scania & Gruber Logistics — ZEFES project
• Colruyt Group, Virya Energy & Atawey — H2Haul, AFIR stations Belgium
• HYDEA project / EVO — H2Tractor, Port of Seville
• Vallhyège (Liège), DATS 24
• Bloomberg & Nature Chemical Engineering — electrolyser & cost research
• H2 Mobility — German price cut via GHG quota credits
• Dutch government / Senate — RED III & RFNBO transport targets