Road Transport Expo 2022 – Tevva launches fuel cell range-extended truck
By Bradley Osborne - 7th July 2022
UK – At the Road Transport Expo, held at NAEC Stoneleigh between 30 June and 2 July, Tevva Motors Ltd of Tilbury, UK launched what it claims is the very first “hydrogen fuel cell-supported heavy goods vehicle to be manufactured, designed and mass produced in the UK”.
The truck in question is a variant of the 7.5t battery-electric model that Tevva unveiled in September of last year at Freight in the City. It is a dual-powered vehicle, with an electric motor driven primarily by batteries but supported by fuel cells – what is often called a “range extender”. Installing the Tevva truck with fuel cells means extending the range from 250 km to 500 km, employing hydrogen tanks which can be refuelled at a rate (10 minutes) equivalent to that of refilling a diesel tank. Three hydrogen tanks are placed between the cab and the box container. Hydrogen has a higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries, allowing the truck to carry heavier loads over greater distances.