You’ll be waiting a while before you see any trucks using these cells on roads, construction sites and quarries. Daimler and Volvo expect to start the first tests of trucks using the fuel cells in “about three years,” and won’t start full production until the second half of the decade. The joint venture itself isn’t expected to finalize until the first half of 2021.
The alliance is, in a sense, an acknowledgment of hydrogen’s place in an emissions-free future. EVs will increasingly dominate passenger car lineups from brands like Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. Fuel cells, meanwhile, appear increasingly better-suited to trucks and other uses where longevity and rapid turnaround times are more important.