At the India Energy Week in Bengaluru on February 6, Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries displayed a truck that runs on hydrogen, the cleanest fuel currently known to man with only water and oxygen as tail emissions.
The truck was manufactured by Ashok Leyland with two large hydrogen cylinders. A sign next to the truck claims it to be “India’s first H2ICE technology truck on the road.” H2 is the formula for hydrogen and ICE stands for internal combustion engine. The truck has “near-zero emissions” when it uses hydrogen as fuel in place of conventional diesel or even recently introduced liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The three-day event, which is themed “Growth, Collaboration, and Transition,” was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi.
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.
The hydrogen mining truck will weigh 55 tonnes, feature three hydrogen tanks, have a working range of 200 kilometres, and be powered by Ballard’s 120 kW PEM fuel cell technology.
Reliance will first extensively test and validate the H2ICE technology for heavy duty trucks before its first commercial deployment at scale initially across its captive fleet. Simultaneously Reliance is pursuing the opportunity to create an end-to-end Hydrogen eco system for mobility
