RIL and Ashok Leyland, the Indian flagship company of the Hinduja Group and India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, were working on developing this technology over the past year.
ET had in its December 8 edition reported that both companies were working on H2-ICE powered trucks.
RIL, which contracts a fleet of nearly 45,000 trucks every year to move goods for its refining and marketing operations, is interested in powering them with green hydrogen which it would be producing at its Jamnagar facility in a few years.
Green hydrogen is the cleanest form of fuel when produced through renewable sources of energy. According to a June 2022 report by Niti Aayog on Harnessing Green Hydrogen, increasing consumption from steel and heavy-duty trucking sectors will be the long-term driver for hydrogen, with demand of almost 11 million tonnes per year by 2030 and accounting for almost 52% of total demand by 2050.
Heavy duty trucks are the biggest emitter, producing 60% of road-freight CO2 emissions, which is expected to increase to 66% by 2050.
The vehicle which RIL and Ashok Leyland unveiled has an architecture similar to a conventional diesel-based combustion engine.N Saravanan, President and Chief Technology Officer of Ashok Leyland, in a statement, said, “Working with RIL, we have once again demonstrated our technological leadership, and our commitment to the Clean Mobility Mission. Having one of the best R&D teams in the country, we want to continue our path to innovate and leverage new technologies to be a leader in sustainable and environment friendly mobility.”
Ashok Leyland had recently demonstrated its futuristic vehicle range, powered by electric and hydrogen options at Auto Expo 2023.
