California-based hydrogen storage and refueling technology company Verne has unveiled what it calls the world’s first cryo-compressed hydrogen power truck at the AMTA Expo in Edmonton. The truck achieves double the hydrogen storage density of traditional 700 bar systems by operating at 300 bar, combined with cryogenic temperatures. Bav Roy, co-founder and chief operating officer of Verne, told TruckNews.com that this cryo-compression process allows hydrogen to be stored at much lower pressure while maintaining high density and doubling the range.

Bav Roy: It is higher density than anything else that is available behind in storage. So it’s double the density of the storage systems on trucks today. And so what that means is, with this storage tank that you see behind me, you are able to get double the range without impacting things like payload or cost, and it allows for more more convenient locations on the truck. So where we put this tank is exactly where the diesel tank would go. So really trying to emulate the diesel-like performance, and this stores 30 kilograms of hydrogen. Typically, what you’d see is trying to store that same amount behind the cab over there.

This truck uses Diesel Truck Industries, or DTI, hydrogen diesel system that allows fleets to trial hydrogen fuel without additional infrastructure investments.

Bav Roy: The range for cryo-compressed hydrogen depends a lot on whether it’s going into an engine or fuel cell. I guess a good rule of thumb is that this will double the range. This truck in particular, is a dual fuel engine truck. So we’re using DTI dual fuel engine technology, which allows you to blend diesel and hydrogen inside the engine. And this is actually a range extender. We’ve already got a diesel tank, and you’re then now adding additional range with this tank.

Verne plans to further test the truck’s range and payload capacities through trials, including commercial pilots involving dual fuel engines, hydrogen combustion engines and fuel cells, partnering with manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. Roy said the truck will undergo hot weather operation testing in California first, and cold weather testing in Alberta will follow in the late 2025.

Bav Roy: We think it’s going to work very well in both conditions. This is a highly insulated system that actually protects it from the external environment. But of course, we want to put it through its paces. We want to understand if there anything else that might uncover through -40C weather. 

Alberta Innovates funded the truck. Through the Hydrogen Center of Excellence Program, Edmonton-based DTI received 2 million in funding which was contingent on meeting key project milestones.