In expanding its hydrogen fleet, the Cologne-based company is relying on Hyundai as a partner from the very beginning. Because the Korean manufacturer’s vehicles are proving their worth in everyday use, hylane is buying 32 additional XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks. The first trucks will go to rental customers immediately after delivery in early 2024.
For over a year now, hylane has been renting out commercial vehicles with fuel cell drives in the pay-per-use model and now operates the largest hydrogen truck fleet in the European Union. The team put the first H2 truck – a Hyundai XCIENT Fuel Cell – on German roads in November 2022. This vehicle and other trucks from the Korean manufacturer have impressed hylane and its customers with their stable practical use. Equipped with dry and refrigerated boxes and as a solo vehicle or in trailer mode, the vehicles transport various goods throughout Germany and to neighbouring countries every day.
Sara Schiffer, Managing Director of hylane: “Together with Hyundai, we were able to contribute to making hydrogen mobility a reality in Germany. Our aim was to evaluate whether hydrogen has the potential to make our supply chains more sustainable. Hyundai lorries have now been in daily use by our users throughout Germany for more than a year. They have proven to be a convincing option thanks to their reliability and pleasant driving experience. They not only enable our users to organise their transport in a more environmentally friendly way, but also offer them the opportunity to gain valuable experience with this promising technology at an early stage.”
New lorries with swap bodies
With this in mind, hylane has decided to purchase additional XCIENT Fuel Cell trucks. What is new is that some of the vehicles will be equipped with large swap bodies. Swap bodies are compatible with various modes of transport, including road, rail and sea. This enables seamless integration into multimodal logistics systems, which is particularly important in an export-orientated country like Germany. Distribution logistics and general cargo transport are other areas that can optimise their freight flows with the help of swap bodies. With the superstructures, hylane gives new user groups access to hydrogen mobility and opens up new customer segments.
Beat Hirschi, Managing Director of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility: “Hyundai came onto the market early with this technology, but always focused on quality and reliability. The 32 new XCIENT Fuel Cells from hylane underline that customers value this high level of availability in daily operations. With this new order, hylane and its customers also confirm that they recognize the importance of hydrogen mobility for the future of heavy transport. This motivates our entire team to further develop this pioneering technology. One example of this is the new swap body, which significantly expands the possible uses of hydrogen trucks.”
Technical data of the vehicles
The “XCIENT Fuel Cell” vehicles have a range of around 400 kilometers. They store the hydrogen in seven containers, with an average refueling time of ten minutes.
Bernd Zens, Managing Director of hylane: “We are pleased to have a strong partner at our side in Hyundai, who recognized the potential of hydrogen for the decarbonization of heavy road freight transport early on and is able to produce fuel cell vehicles that are ready for series production today delivery. We are determined to further advance the market ramp-up of this technology in order to be able to offer not only ecologically but also economically sustainable transport as quickly as possible.”
Funded by the BMDV
All vehicles are funded as part of the directive on the funding of light and heavy commercial vehicles with alternative, climate-friendly drives and the associated refueling and charging infrastructure (KsNI) by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). The funding guidelines are coordinated by NOW GmbH, applications are approved by the Federal Office for Goods Transport. Through usage-based rental in the so-called pay-per-use model, hylane customers only pay for the kilometers actually driven. The funds from the funding will be used entirely to reduce the rental rates for the vehicles on offer and thus offer competitive prices.
Photo of hylane
Press release https://is.gd/eJqbEi
