Daimler Truck is adding hydrogen combustion to its zero-emission truck portfolio through a partnership with German specialist KEYOU.
A move that gives the technology a high-profile industrial endorsement while underlining its likely role as a niche solution rather than the future default for heavy-duty transport.
Under the agreement announced this week, Daimler Truck will supply Mercedes-Benz Actros L 1848 tractor units and its 12.8-liter diesel engine platform.
KEYOU will convert the engine to run on hydrogen, while external partners will handle vehicle integration. The resulting HICE.40 truck is expected to enter the market in 2027, offering 350 kW of power and a claimed range of up to 650 kilometers.
Not a change of direction
The deal matters because it brings a major European truck maker into closer contact with a technology that has often been overshadowed by battery-electric trucks and hydrogen fuel cells.
It does not, however, mark a change of direction at Daimler Truck. The company continues to develop battery-electric trucks for shorter and regional routes, while its fuel-cell program remains aimed at long-haul operations requiring very long range and rapid refueling.
Instead, the KEYOU partnership is a pragmatic attempt to create another option for fleet operators. Hydrogen combustion retains much of the packaging, manufacturing logic, and workshop familiarity of a conventional diesel truck.
For operators in demanding sectors such as construction, timber, tanker transport, or heavy regional haulage, this may be attractive, particularly where charging infrastructure is difficult to install, or vehicles need to work long shifts with limited downtime.
The compromise lies in energy use. A hydrogen combustion engine generally consumes more hydrogen than a fuel-cell powertrain to do the same work.
A fuel cell converts hydrogen electrochemically into electricity for an electric motor, while combustion loses more energy as heat. In real-world heavy-duty operation, the difference can amount to roughly 20% to 30% more hydrogen consumption for combustion.
Although the gap can narrow under sustained high-load operation. Hydrogen combustion’s appeal is therefore lower vehicle cost and technological familiarity, rather than lower operating costs.
Similar paths at the competition
MAN has already taken a similar path. Its hTGX hydrogen combustion truck entered limited production in 2025, with an initial run of 200 units aimed at specialist applications.
Volvo Trucks is also developing hydrogen combustion technology and plans to bring hydrogen-powered trucks equipped with its high-pressure direct injection system to Europe before 2030. Both manufacturers nevertheless describe battery-electric trucks as their core zero-emission technology.
Other manufacturers remain more focused on fuel cells. Iveco has placed fuel-cell trucks with BMW as part of the H2Haul project, while Hyundai has accumulated millions of kilometers with its XCIENT Fuel Cell fleet in Europe.
Daimler Truck itself is preparing customer trials of its liquid-hydrogen-powered NextGenH2 fuel-cell truck, which is designed for ranges of more than 1,000 kilometers.
Hydrogen is not dead
That contrast illustrates the increasingly nuanced reality of hydrogen in road transport. Hydrogen is not dead, but neither is it becoming the universal answer once promised by some industry forecasts.
The market remains overwhelmingly diesel-led. Of the 307,460 medium- and heavy-duty trucks registered in the EU in 2025, 93.2% were diesel. Electrically chargeable trucks accounted for 12,857 units, or 4.2% of registrations, although that share nearly doubled from 2.3% a year earlier.
Belgium broadly reflects that early-stage transition. Of the 9,033 trucks above 3.5 tonnes registered in the country in 2025, 325 were electrically chargeable, representing 3.6% of the market.
In the heavy-truck segment above 16 tonnes, the relevant battleground for long-haul freight, there were 191 electrically chargeable registrations out of 7,670, or just under 2.5%.
Hydrogen remains more marginal still. The latest Europe-wide fuel-cell dataset, covering 2024, records no registered N2/N3 fuel-cell trucks in Belgium. Hydrogen combustion is newer again, with the first European models only reaching the market in 2025.
Battery-electric to dominate
Battery-electric trucks are nevertheless expected to dominate most zero-emission heavy-duty sales this decade, particularly on routes where depot charging, public charging or predictable daily distances make them practical.
The European Commission expects 410,000 to 600,000 zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles on Europe’s roads by 2030, with up to 90% of them battery-electric.
By the end of 2024, more than 100 battery-electric truck models were available in series or small-series production, compared with 20 fuel-cell models in small series.
Hydrogen remains relevant where batteries face operational limits, but its economics are difficult. Hydrogen combustion trucks are less energy-efficient than battery-electric vehicles and generally consume around 20% to 30% more hydrogen than a comparable fuel-cell truck for the same work.
Their business case therefore depends on cheap low-carbon hydrogen and dependable refuelling infrastructure. Belgium’s three newly announced heavy-duty hydrogen stations, due by the end of 2027 with a combined capacity of more than seven tonnes per day, underline both the progress being made and how limited the dedicated network still is.
