Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (Headquarters: Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, President and CEO: Karl Deppen, hereafter “MFTBC”) and Iwatani Corporation (Head Office: Tokyo and Osaka, President: Hiroshi Majima; hereafter “Iwatani”) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the study of liquid hydrogen refueling technology for hydrogen-fueled commercial vehicles.
Both companies are studying the use of subcooled liquid hydrogen (sLH2) refueling technology. Compared to gaseous hydrogen, the sLH2 technology allows for higher storage density, greater range, faster refueling, lower costs and superior energy efficiency. Iwatani and MFTBC will study technical, commercial and regulatory aspects of the sLH2 technology, and are now working to realize sLH2 technology in Japan.
- Collaboration Overview:
- Technical collaboration for liquid hydrogen refueling
- Investigation of regulations and certification for liquid hydrogen
- Study of business conditions for filling infrastructure
- Marketing activities related to hydrogen-fueled vehicles and filling infrastructure
Hydrogen is seen as an important enabler for achieving carbon-neutral transportation, especially in commercial vehicle applications with heavy loads and long distances. Traditionally, hydrogen has been stored on-board the vehicle as compressed gas.
About sLH2
The sLH2 refueling process uses a pump to slightly increase the pressure of the liquid hydrogen, making it subcooled. Due to this pressure, the boil-off gas in the vehicle tank is re-liquified, eliminating the need to discharge the boil-off gas. The sLH2 process reduces and simplifies the equipment of the fueling station, thereby reducing investment costs. It also requires significantly less energy which reduces the operational cost of the fueling station.
The sLH2 refueling process was originally developed by Daimler Truck and Linde Engineering and is currently being discussed by the relevant parties with a view to developing ISO standardization.
About Daimler Truck’s sLH2 project
Daimler Truck, the parent company of MFTBC, has signaled its position that hydrogen-powered vehicles could be a better solution, particularly for very flexible deployments in heavy loads and long
distances under demanding conditions, than battery-powered EVs. The company has already developed the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, a fuel cell heavy-duty prototype that uses liquid hydrogen, and began customer trials of this truck in 2024. Daimler Truck also produces fuel cell systems for heavy-duty trucks through its joint venture with the Volvo Group, cellcentric. The sLH2 technology was introduced with the GenH2 Truck for customer trials in 2024. When using the sLH2 technology to refuel hydrogen, much of the equipment normally required when using compressed hydrogen gas can be omitted, significantly reducing the equipment cost, required space and consumed energy impact of hydrogen stations.
MFTBC aims to be a pioneer of advanced technologies through research and development to envision a sustainable future. The company’s hydrogen activities are based around three interdependent pillars; ‘Product, Customer and Infrastructure’, which are essential to realizing a sustainable future with hydrogen technologies. In the collaboration with Iwatani, MFTBC will work on the “Infrastructure” pillar and promote research and development on liquid hydrogen.
SOURCE: Fuso
