Fuel cell system specialist cellcentric announces its innovative NextGen fuel cell system tailored for long-haul trucks also in North America. As a new player with many years of expertise, the company with European and Canadian roots will announce its NextGen fuel cell system tailor-made for sustainable hydrogen-powered long-haul trucks for the first time at the trade fair, alongside its BZA150 fuel cell generation, which has been successfully tested in demanding field tests by Truck OEMs, Daimler Truck and Volvo Group. As a key element of the sustainable mobility transition in heavy goods transport and haulage trucking, the pioneering system was also developed with a particular focus on transportation requirements in North America (USMCA). The target is to start Series production at the end of the decade.

With a compact design and a net output of more than 350 kW as well as a low weight thanks to the highly integrated single system package solution, the NextGen system achieves the performance characteristics of comparable long-haul conventional heavy-duty trucks while reducing fuel consumption by 20 percent compared to the current generation BZA150 fuel cell generation. This is also enabled by a power density increase of 30 percent compared to the current generation. Especially relevant for easy truck vehicle integration: the system design and performance enables a 40 percent reduction in waste heat at peak load, thus substantially lowering cooling requirements for the truck – a key strategic product fit improvement.

“Our NextGen fuel cell system takes heavy-duty zero-emission transportation capability to a new level,” Nicholas Loughlan, CTO of cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG, says at the ACT Expo. “The performance features are tailored to meet the high demands of heavy-duty long-haul truck transport, which is highly sensitive to Total Cost of Ownership, in all aspects – but above all in fuel efficiency – without compromising on range, durability, or reliability. During development, we also specifically considered North American transportation requirements, especially regarding the long-haul segment. With its TCO Benchmark Performance, cellcentric’s NextGen is a zero-emission heavy-duty long-haul game changer that will allow us to play a significant role in shaping the sustainable transportation transition, also in this important market,” says Loughlan.

Reliable, robust, and sustainable in the long term

In addition, the cellcentric engineering teams have designed the NextGen fuel cell system to be as robust as is to be expected given the requirements of the challenging long-haul heavy-duty business: the system’s lifetime will deliver around 25,000 operating hours. The NextGen fuel cell system is also characterized by a high degree of sustainability beyond its useful life.

Fuel cell system also meets transportation requirements in the USMCA market

The strategic considerations taken in the product design specifically cater to the North American market: demand for hydrogen-based mobility solutions is growing in the USMCA market, triggered by the US subsidy measure in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In addition, the EPA’s recent final rule: “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles - Phase 3” will also help pave the way for heavy-duty zero emission vehicles in the US.

With this market outlook, cellcentric is driving the development of the highly TCO-optimized NextGen fuel cell system, taking the requirements of long-haul heavy-duty transportation in North America into account starting in the initial design phase.

About cellcentric

 

cellcentric develops, produces, and markets fuel cell systems for use in heavy commercial vehicles as the focus as well as for other areas of application outside vehicles. cellcentric is a joint venture between Daimler Truck AG and the Volvo Group, which was founded in 2021. The company utilizes the know-how and extensive experience gained from several decades of fuel cell system development work at its predecessor companies. cellcentric's goal is to become a leading global manufacturer of fuel cells and thus contribute to climate-neutral and sustainable transportation by 2050. More than 520 highly qualified employees are driving our state-of-the-art fuel cell technology forward. They work in interdisciplinary teams at locations in Nabern, Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, Esslingen (Germany) and Burnaby (Canada). Around 700 individual patents have been granted, underlining the company's leading role in technological development.

 

Contact cellcentric:

Christian Kleinert, +49 (0)175 5337198, christian.kleinert@cellcentric.net

 

Further information from cellcentric is available on the Internet:
www.cellcentric.net

This document contains forward-looking statements regarding our current assessment of future events. Words such as "anticipate", "assume", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may/may", "plan", "project", "should" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Examples include an unfavorable development of the global economic situation, in particular a decline in demand in our most important sales markets, a deterioration in our refinancing options on the credit and financial markets, unavoidable force majeure events such as natural disasters, pandemics, acts of terrorism, political unrest, armed conflicts, industrial accidents and their impact on our sales, purchasing, production or financing activities, purchasing, production or financing activities, changes in exchange rates and customs regulations, a change in consumer behaviour towards smaller and less profitable vehicles or a possible loss of acceptance of our products and services resulting in an impairment in the enforcement of prices and the utilization of production capacities, price increases for fuels and raw materials, interruptions in production due to material shortages, labor strikes or supplier insolvencies, a decline in the resale prices of used vehicles, the successful implementation of cost reduction and efficiency improvement measures, the business prospects of companies in which we have significant shareholdings, the successful implementation of strategic cooperations and joint ventures, changes in laws, regulations and official directives, the ability of our suppliers to meet their obligations under the law and the ability of our suppliers to meet their obligations under the law, regulations and official directives, particularly those relating to vehicle emissions, fuel consumption and safety, as well as the conclusion of ongoing investigations by authorities or investigations initiated by authorities and the outcome of pending or impending future legal proceedings and other risks and uncertainties, some of which are described in the current annual report under the heading "Risk and opportunity report". If any of these uncertainties or contingencies materialize, or if the assumptions underlying any of these forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. We do not intend or assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements on an ongoing basis, as they are based solely on the circumstances prevailing on the date of publication.