Daimler Truck, Volvo, Toyota and energy partners team up to scale hydrogen truck ecosystem across Europe
Eight industry and energy players used IAA Transportation to unveil plans to scale hydrogen-powered trucks across Europe, saying Germany now has all the conditions for a deployable ecosystem by 2030.
- almost 600,000 km
- 100
- mid-three-digit million euro
- up to 100 trucks per day
What Happened
At IAA Transportation, Daimler Truck, Volvo Group, Toyota Motor Corporation, Bosch, Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, TEAL Mobility and MB Energy unveiled plans to accelerate the rollout of hydrogen-powered vehicles across Europe. The partners say that for the first time in Europe the German ecosystem has put in place all the conditions for a scalable deployment of hydrogen trucks by 2030, driven by German authorities and European industrial leaders along the value chain. Building on the German deployment model as a blueprint, they argue that scaling these solutions across the continent requires aligned support from national governments and the European Commission to ensure long-term energy resilience and competitiveness.
600,000km
Real-world customer operations completed ahead of a 100-truck next-generation fuel cell series.
Daimler Truck plans to deploy a small series of 100 next-generation fuel cell trucks into customer operations from the end of 2026 onward, and the first hydrogen combustion engine trucks are being prepared for market launch next year. Overall, the company is investing a mid-three-digit million euro amount in hydrogen trucks by the end of the decade. Volvo Group is similarly advancing its hydrogen portfolio with significant investment in both fuel-cell and hydrogen-combustion trucks for market rollout towards 2030. Toyota joins as a technology partner drawing on more than 30 years of fuel cell system development and supply, while Bosch supplies key components for gaseous hydrogen and refueling technologies for both liquid and gaseous hydrogen, with its fuel cell system proven over more than 30 million kilometers on the road.
On the energy and infrastructure side, Volvo Group and Daimler Truck are cooperating closely with energy companies and hydrogen suppliers such as Air Liquide, TotalEnergies and MB Energy, and with retail operators such as MB Energy and TEAL Mobility, a 50/50 joint venture between TotalEnergies and Air Liquide operating under the TotalEnergies brand. These players are mobilizing their capacities to scale both liquid and gaseous hydrogen supply chains and are advancing toward large-capacity, high-throughput refueling stations able to refuel up to 100 trucks per day. They are also leveraging synergies with fast-growing industrial renewable hydrogen production driven by the implementation of the European RED III directive.
- Lowering truck cost through incentives and series production.
- Reaching a diesel-competitive hydrogen pump price through a more competitive supply chain and Greenhouse Gas quota mechanisms.
- Offering operating incentives such as zero-emission toll exemptions for fleet operators.
The market appears to be responding: recent applications under Germany's NOW funding program were oversubscribed, with over 70 high-capacity stations and 800 heavy-duty trucks applied for by industrial companies, confirming strong commercial pull from the logistics sector. While Germany serves as the operational launchpad, the industry leaders are calling for strategic measures supported by national governments and the European Commission to replicate the model at continental scale.
- Scaling infrastructure through synchronized funding calls for refueling stations and vehicles to meet Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) targets.
- Strengthening hydrogen's commercial viability through pragmatic, harmonized renewable fuel credit mechanisms and toll incentives.
- Jointly de-risking the overall value chain, from production and liquefaction to final distribution and vehicle operation.
Previously from Daimler Truck AG
In early September, we reported that Germany's transport, energy and industrial players — including Daimler Truck, Volvo, Toyota, Bosch, Air Liquide and TotalEnergies — were teaming up to make hydrogen trucks a practical, CO2-free option across Europe by 2030. That earlier coverage framed the aim as a hydrogen truck ecosystem in Germany by 2030, with the ambition of extending it across the continent.
Background drawn from MotorClaw's earlier coverage of Daimler Truck AG's official releases.
Why this matters
The partners argue hydrogen is an important complement to battery-electric trucks for long-haul operations needing long range, high payload and rapid refueling, so the plans touch fleet operators who would buy and run them as well as the energy and component suppliers behind them. Because hydrogen trucks only become competitive with diesel if costs, fuel prices and toll rules line up, the group is also asking national governments and the European Commission to replicate the German model continent-wide.
Terms in This Story
- fuel cell
- A device that turns hydrogen and oxygen into electricity to power a vehicle, producing water as its only emission.
- hydrogen combustion engine
- An engine that burns hydrogen as fuel instead of diesel or gasoline, rather than using a fuel cell to generate electricity.
- RED III directive
- A European Union renewable energy directive that sets binding targets for renewable energy use, including renewable hydrogen.
- AFIR
- The European Union's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, which sets requirements for building refueling and charging infrastructure across member states.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.