A 519-kilometre January run by one of the first Nikola hydrogen fuel cell trucks sold in Canada was part of a bigger plan to establish a long-haul shipping corridor powered by hydrogen

A Nikola hydrogen fuel cell-electric truck recently completed a 519-kilometre trip from Edmonton to Calgary and back, without refuelling, as part of the Alberta Motor Transport Association’s (AMTA) two-year trial for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFCEV).

The trial program started in February 2023, with over 70 carriers taking part. The AMTA is testing out several trucks on a short-haul basis. The Nikola’s run marked the first major successful trial for long-haul.

“[The trial] is trying to test the technology. The chemistry and the physics are well-known. It’s trying to see what can be done on a commercial level that these vehicles can operate in the Canadian environment, [that] we can prove that they can operate over distances,” Robert Harper, the AMTA’s acting president, says in an interview with Electric Autonomy.

In a follow-up email to Electric Autonomy, AMTA stated project funding was provided by Prairies Economic Development Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Emissions Reduction Alberta and private industry.

The truck in the AMTA’s pilot was among the first delivered to Canada — part of the first batch of 35 hydrogen trucks Nikola has delivered to North American customers.

The other vehicle participants in the AMTA program are Hyzon Motors as well as Hydra and Diesel Tech Industries.

The Nikola trial run

The first thing to know in assessing the Nikola hydrogen truck trial run is that the trip had no cargo.

The truck itself weighs about 26,000 pounds (11,790 kilograms). The empty trailer added 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg) more. Bison Transport drove the rig, using only 61 per cent of its fuel during the trip. It took about three hours each way.

Nikola’s website says its truck can refuel in 20 minutes or less.

An AMTA-produced YouTube video about the drive states the Nikola truck had 70 kilograms of usable hydrogen in its tank when it started.

Harper says to his knowledge, there aren’t any projects like the HCFEV trial in other parts of Canada. He believes Alberta is “way ahead of other jurisdictions.”

The AMTA says its next trial with the Nikola vehicle will involve a full trailer. With a full load, it will weigh much more and may take longer to complete the route. The date for that run is unknown.

Hydrogen’s advantages hinge on infrastructure

Harper explains the AMTA is focusing on hydrogen because pure battery-electric isn’t suitable for long-haul drives in the Alberta winter.

For the moment, however, the hydrogen fuelling infrastructure is quite limited.

“We get the hydrogen fuel out of the Suncor fueling station [in Edmonton]. So right now, there are some limitations on how far you can go with that distribution network,” Harper says.

“There are some other alternatives for producing hydrogen in different locations as well. So those are in the works, but not particularly part of this project.”

When asked about an extension to the two-year trial program, Harper explains that while the program will end (presumably by next February) that doesn’t mean isolated vehicle trials can’t occur in the future. He says AMTA has seen more manufacturers approach the organization to trial their HFCEVs as the trial continues.

But more and better hydrogen fuelling infrastructure must be available to make regular trips viable.

“Long-term there would have to be some sort of permanent infrastructure and distribution network,” Harper says.

AMTA’s other projects

In addition to running pilot tests on vehicles already on the market, the AMTA is working on designing and building two 700 km range fuel cell-electric trucks for operation between Edmonton and Calgary.

The trucks will be built under the Alberta Zero Emissions Truck Electrification Collaboration (AZETEC) program. It is a $17.2-million project with Emissions Reductions Alberta, the University of Calgary’s Canada Energy Systems Analysis Research, HTEC, Zen Clean Energy Solutions, Bison and Trimac as partners.

The project was announced in 2021 and intended to run for three years. While Harper did not get into details, that end date has been extended as the project ran into delays.

The vehicles will be powered by Ballard Power Systems’ proton exchange membrane fuel cell engine and a hybrid-electric drivetrain by Dana on a Freightliner Cascadia Class 8 truck platform.

Hydrogen for the project will come from Suncor Energy.

Harper says an anonymous collaborator is expressing interest about a business case for these vehicles should AZETEC go as planned.

There’s also one other project AMTA is involved in, which Harper declined to get into detail on as they’re in the final stage of negotiations — only to say it’s related to the AZETEC project.