Tata Motors begins trials of hydrogen-powered heavy duty trucks for long haul transportation

Tata Motors trials hydrogen-powered trucks for long haul transportation, aiming to assess viability and performance in real-life conditions.

Tata Motors on Tuesday (March 4, 2025) launched the first-ever trials of hydrogen-powered heavy duty trucks in order to assess their viability for long haul transportation solutions.

The trial phase will span up to 24 months and involves deployment of 16 advanced hydrogen-powered vehicles with varying configurations and payload capacities.

The trucks, equipped with Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines (H2-ICE) and Fuel Cell (H2-FCEV) technologies, will be tested on India's most prominent freight routes, including those around Mumbai, Pune, Delhi-NCR, Surat, Vadodara, Jamshedpur and Kalinganagar.

"For heavy duty, long haul transportation battery electric doesn't appear to be a viable technology. So while there are improvements and developments happening in battery....at the same time, we are also trying hydrogen," Tata Motors Executive Director Girish Wagh told PTI.

As hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen internal combustion engine can probably be a viable technology for heavy duty, longer duration transportation, the auto major is investing in the technology, he noted.

"Therefore we are investing in it and getting into these trials to get real life feedback and understand how this technology can be deployed. So from that perspective, I think this experimentation is very important," Wagh said.

From the trial run, the company would receive a feedback in terms of performance of this technology in real life operating conditions, he said.