Hydrogen is the long-distance candidate in heavy-vehicle electrification: the fuel cell generates electricity on board, refuelling time is close to diesel, and no battery weight has to be carried. So what changes on the trailer side in this transition? The answer falls into two headings.
The First Change: The Trailer Being Towed
For the trailer behind a fuel-cell tractor, expectations are largely the same as behind an electric tractor: low air resistance, low rolling resistance and lightness. Since hydrogen is an expensive energy carrier, the pressure for efficiency does not ease — it intensifies. E-axle-supported trailers make the same contribution to the fuel-cell system: braking energy is recovered, and peak power demand drops.
The Second Change: Hydrogen Itself Will Become Cargo
As the hydrogen economy grows, so will the need to transport it from production sites to filling stations; that means a new market for tanker and tube-trailer manufacturers. These vehicles are not ordinary tankers:
- Certified vessel and equipment design suitable for carrying pressurised gas
- Increased payload through composite-wound lightweight tube technologies
- Sealing and material selection suited to hydrogen's small molecular structure
- Full compliance with ADR's requirements for the dangerous-gas class
In short, hydrogen will come to the trailer sector from two directions: as the energy source of the vehicles we tow, and as the cargo of the next-generation tankers we will design. Manufacturers prepared on both fronts will come out ahead.