A coalition of vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and companies, including Deutz, KIT, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Purem, Claas, Braunschweig University of Technology, Liebherr, Nagel, Umicore, NGK and Castrol, have joined forces to investigate the cross-application use of hydrogen powertrain concepts for construction and agricultural applications.
The three-year project is funded with €5.1m (US$5.3m) by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and supported by TÜV Rheinland. Mahle is authorized and commissioned to manage the project.
Hydrogen engines offer many advantages which make them ideal for construction and agricultural machines. “At Mahle, we have been working on the development of hydrogen engines for years and are delighted that we can now also contribute this expertise, together with strong partners, to the latest developments for the off-road sector,” said Dr Marco Warth, vice president of corporate research and advanced engineering at Mahle.
Off-road applications will be demonstrated and analyzed in vehicle concept studies as well as in fleet and infrastructure considerations. Exhaust gas aftertreatment concepts will also be developed and tested on the test bench. By studying the influence of hydrogen on materials and the friction and wear characteristics, all the fundamentals essential for achieving the extreme robustness requirements will be developed.