A government and industry initiative has given £30 million to a Scottish-led project to create a large freight vehicle driven by hydrogen fuel cells.

A “clean and inexpensive” cab and tractor combo are what Glasgow-based HVS is working to create to replace the equivalent diesel-powered vehicles already in use throughout the UK and Europe.

The Advanced Propulsion Center (APC) program is providing the funding. It encourages the advancement of automobile technology with low and zeroes carbon emissions.

HVS is one of five businesses receiving a portion of a £73 million fund funded by the UK government and the car industry for the development of clean transportation technology.

HVS will receive a £15 million government subsidy, and an additional £15 million will come from business.

As battery packs used by smaller electric vehicles at the size necessary would be prohibitively heavy and take a long time to charge, hydrogen propulsion is viewed as essential to decarbonizing HGVs.

Milestone

With the aid of the APC funding, HVS Chief Executive Jawad Khursheed claimed that the company’s aims to decarbonize heavy-duty transport in the UK had passed “a critical milestone.”

He continued, “We are on target to deliver the UK’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered HGV after successfully producing our first driving fuel cell technology demonstrator vehicle.”

“Our automotive industry is a global leader, creating jobs whether in Essex, Somerset, or Glasgow,” stated Grant Shapps, the UK’s Secretary of State for Business.

Seizing the promise of new technologies will be crucial to its success in the future and will also help to make our roads cleaner, greener, and more reasonably priced.

Through the Faraday Battery Challenge, the government has dedicated £211 million to battery research and innovation.

With assistance from Innovate UK, the UK Battery Industrialization Center, and the Faraday Institution, UK Research and Innovation will administer the funds.