Zero Emission Long-Haul Heavy-Duty Trucking

Clean Air Task Force conducted a first-of-its-kind analysis comparing the operational performance of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV), identifying key advantages to FCEVs in efforts to decarbonize long–haul heavy-duty trucking.   

The report takes a novel approach to analyzing questions of cost by comparing the operational performance of BEV and FCEV drive trains and infrastructure as alternatives to diesel trucking on a popular long-haul route in the U.S. It finds that FCEVs outperform BEVs in terms of the number of stops required (three vs. eight), total time spent refueling (1.4 hours vs. 43.8 hours), and available room for cargo (accounting for the size of equipment). The report also finds that while building charging and refueling infrastructure for BEVs and FCEVs could prove equally challenging, FCEV refueling technology has the comparative advantage of being similar to existing diesel refueling technology, making for fewer barriers to transition.