Thinking about sustainability and zero emission means also focus the attention on hydrogen. And this is one of the projects FPT Industrial Research & Development center is carrying on. During the Tech Day event, the Brand showcased its concept of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powertrain, designed for heavy duty applications and with performance aligned with a diesel powertrain. Hydrogen is a viable and effective solution, especially on high energy demanding applications, providing also performance, autonomy and reliability. As energy source, hydrogen can become key in the development of a circular economy, because it can be produced locally through renewable resources from biomethane, wind or solar energy.
The powertrain system developed by FPT Industrial delivers maximum power of 400 kW and comprises the H2 tanks, a fuel cell module, a lithium-ion battery pack, an e-axle and an energy management system. The fuel cell supplies energy to the e-axle, which ensures that the performance is aligned with that of a diesel powertrain.
The energy management system provides the minimum amount of energy to satisfy the specific power demand. Depending on the system condition, the software can balance the energy through battery and fuel cell to give the required energy to the e-motor. This will ensure that the fuel cell has a durability of 20,000 hours. This FPT Industrial proprietary management system coupled with Hydrogen tanks can also guarantee an autonomy of around 800 km.
Considering a future scenario, the FPT Industrial Hydrogen Fuel Cell powertrain will have among its advantages: the highest sustainability with zero emissions regarding noise and pollutants, Diesel­ like performance, a similar weight to a Diesel powertrain, making a vehicle thus equipped 70% lighter than a battery powered variant (considering a 44-ton GVW truck), and six times faster filling time than a battery vehicle - the fuel cell has a refilling time of around 20 minutes, while the battery can take up to two hours.

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