Glasgow, UK: A petition ordering that Hydrogen Vehicle Systems, the Glasgow-based manufacturer of hydrogen trucks, is wound up and placed into liquidation has been lodged in court.
HVS started trials last year of its hydrogen power tractor but the company has been battling to secure additional funding. Last September HVS delivered its engineering prototype test “mule”. The prototype uses the same hydrogen fuel cell planned for production HGVs, and was used to test systems prior to track testing prototypes.
A key issue operators of hydrogen trucks face is the availability of green hydrogen currently expensive and far less energy efficient than plugging a battery into a charging point. There is currently no consensus on whether trucks should be powered by batteries or hydrogen. And there are no refuelling stations anywhere on the road network.
Continental trends suggest hydrogen as a fuel for heavy trucks and battery power for light and medium weight trucks. And there is government funding for refuelling points, something lacking in the UK. The UK government describes its approach to decarbonisation as “technology neutral”.
