Bosch puts its first hydrogen truck into service in plant traffic

Bosch has taken a further step on the road to climate-friendly logistics – with one of the technology company’s own products. Its Nuremberg plant recently started using a fuel-cell electric truck in plant traffic. The truck is equipped with the Bosch fuel-cell power module (FCPM).

“When we decided to make our plant traffic more climate-friendly, it was clear that we wanted a truck featuring Bosch’s FCPM,” explains Alexander Weichsel, the commercial plant manager in Nuremberg. “This deployment is an important building block that helps us reduce our emissions in logistics. The fact that several thousand trucks with Bosch fuel-cell systems are already on the road worldwide shows that the concept is proving its worth.”

By converting hydrogen and oxygen into water and electricity, the 40-ton truck can be operated completely electrically. Using renewable hydrogen even makes the truck’s powertrain climate neutral. By switching to the new vehicle, Bosch also wants to set an example in Nuremberg and play an active role in developing a hydrogen value chain in line with the state of Bavaria’s Hydrogen Strategy 2.0.

The Iveco truck in question has a range of up to 800 kilometers. It is operated by the freight forwarder Schäflein on behalf of the Bosch plant. Schäflein in turn rents the vehicle from the rental provider Hylane, which specializes in emissions-free trucks.

The vehicle, which primarily transports products from the plant’s own manufacturing operations, is expected to cover 12,000 kilometers per year. As a result, the Nuremberg plant will reduce Bosch’s CO₂ emissions – because the vehicle runs on hydrogen instead of diesel. Alongside this reduction of emissions in logistics, however, the primary reason for putting the truck into service is initially to gather experience and as much data as possible. This will flow into the further development of future powertrain systems such as the Compact 190 and Compact 300 models.

Picture: Bosch