H2 ICE trucking : Total cost of ownership considerations

Reference
Based on the paper submitted by Westport Fuel Systems at the 43rd International Vienna Motor Symposium, 2022 
“High Performance Hydrogen Engine Applications Using Westport Fuel Systems’ Commercially Available HPDI Technology”

This is an attempt to deconvolute some of the total cost of ownership information provided in the reference paper. Do not attribute the mistakes / omissions to the original authors. The idea is simply to get a handle on some of the costs assumed in such studies and refine them based on availability of more information.

First things first – does H2 make sense in an internal combustion engine (ICE)?

Making green hydrogen (that is using electrolysis with green electricity) is expensive. Then burning it in an ICE with its inherent inefficiencies, as compared to pairing it with a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), might look imprudent. So the case for the H2-ICE rests on the following:

(1) Utilizing available assets (that is engines) to provide an outlet for a low carbon fuel while we develop the hydrogen infrastructure. Otherwise, we are stuck with the chicken-and-egg issue of not having sufficient fuel cell trucks because of the lack of H2 availability and not sufficient H2 fueling stations because of the lack of trucks.

(2) H2-ICEs, compared to diesels, offer a much cleaner tailpipe – almost no hydrocarbon / CO emissions and very little particulates (oil-derived). And NOx can be controlled well with existing SCR technology – so there is a case to be also made from a criteria pollutant reduction perspective.

But this post is NOT about whether H2 makes sense or not (availability and use of green H2 for transportation is another topic altogether). In this article, we are only trying to deconvolute some of the lifetime costs as discussed in a recent presentation.

Assumptions

Some of the assumptions are straight from the reference study [1], while some others are added: 

  1.  Study done over 5 years of driving, distance accumulation of 580,000 km (116,000 km per year)
  2. Truck cost : Diesel €110,000, H2-ICE 1.4X = €154,000, FCEV 3X = €330,000
  3. Fuel cost   :  Diesel €1.5/liter, H2 : €6/kg, Adblue €0.55/100 km [2] 
  4. Driver cost : €300,000 over 5 years, for all cases 
  5. Tires : €13,920 for all cases (note – there is a wide discrepancy here between ICCT assumptions [2] of €30,000 and $12,500 based on an ATRI report)
  6. Service / Maintenance : Diesel €45,000, H2-ICE 15% higher than diesel = €51,750, FCEV €82,500 [3]
  7. Fuel consumption: Diesel 33 L/100km, H2 ICE 9.5 kg/100km (assumes 5% better efficiency vs diesel), FCEV 8 kg/100km

The last one above might need some more explanation. Starting with diesel fuel consumption of 33 L/100 km (assumption), total energy content of diesel used is calculated (diesel energy content @ 38 kWh/gal and H2 @ 33 kWh/kg), and then total energy required is reduced by 5% for H2 (improved efficiency)

References

[1] “High Performance Hydrogen Engine Applications Using Westport Fuel Systems’ Commercially Available HPDI Technology”, Westport Fuel Systems, presented at the 43rd International Vienna Motor Symposium, 2022

[2] ICCT report, “TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP FOR TRACTOR-TRAILERS IN EUROPE: BATTERY ELECTRIC VERSUS DIESEL” Nov 2021

[3] “Comparison of hydrogen and battery electric trucks”, Transport & Environment, June 2020

Results

Here is a comparison of the projected 5 year cost of ownership based on the assumptions listed to the left. Shown is the sensitivity to diesel fuel cost (given the current spike in prices). Of course, it is understood that H2 prices could also increase, especially if they are pegged to natural gas prices.

Some self-criticism (or next steps)

Perhaps the biggest questionable in the above analysis is the price of H2. The real price of green H2 when produced at scale is not known at this point and such analyses will have to be refined with time.

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