FirstElement Fuel Launches Heavy-Duty Hydrogen Fueling Station
Article created for the digital issue聽of聽the 黑料社区Foundation鈥檚 magazine
has created what it calls the world鈥檚 first fast-fueling hydrogen fueling station. The facility, located at the Port of Oakland, will serve commercial trucks and the motoring public. The station, which operates under the True Zero brand, is capable of filling 200 trucks a day in just 10 minutes each using proprietary pump technology that enables the rapid fueling times.
The Oakland station:
- Can deliver 18,000 kilograms of hydrogen daily;
- Has two heavy-duty truck fuel pumps; as well as
- Four light/medium-duty dispensers supplied by liquid hydrogen.
What Are Their Plans?
鈥淲e have plans to add other hydrogen stations up and down the coast of California. We are innovating technology to help do it more efficiently and at a greater scale,鈥� said .
Those plans include about a dozen commercial hydrogen fueling locations designed for heavy-duty applications that will be constructed over the next five to seven years. , said the company is securing land and building locations from the ground up, but it doesn鈥檛 have plans to add driver amenities to the sites.
Hyundai and Nikola
Slieman said FEF has completed more than 200 fills on heavy-duty trucks, most of them with Hyundai, which is fueling a fleet of 30 at the site. Global Expedited Transportation is operating the Hyundai trucks in its drayage applications.
Additionally, has entered into a 10-year contract to fuel its trucks at the site, and the station will open to the public once final inspections are completed in May.
Cryopump Technology Turns Liquid Hydrogen Into a Gas at the Pump
The fast fills are possible due to cryopump technology that turns liquid hydrogen, stored at -423 Fahrenheit, into a gas right at the pump. FEF designed the cryopump in-house, and has partnered with Bosch Rexroth to create a high-volume, high-performance cryopump it will use going forward.
The companies are currently testing the technology, which Stephens called 鈥渁 major breakthrough,鈥� at its proving grounds in Livermore, California.
The benefit of using liquid hydrogen is that it is more dense than gaseous hydrogen, so it requires a smaller footprint鈥攋ust 1/30th of the space鈥攁t a fueling station. Plus, Stephens said about ten times more can fit into a trailer.
Air Liquide station Produces the Liquid Hydrogen
FEF鈥檚 liquid hydrogen is produced at an Air Liquide station near Las Vegas and trucked to Oakland. Stephens said the company has contracted with .
A concern with hydrogen is the 鈥渂oil off鈥� that occurs as fuel warms and hydrogen starts venting.
鈥淔or our onsite liquid storage, we can store it for a week before we see any type of losses at all,鈥� Stephens said.
Once boil off occurs, it will vent about 1% a day. However, as long as at least 1% of a tank鈥檚 volume is used each day, it isn鈥檛 an issue, Sleiman said.
Will Hydrogen Play a Critical Role in Trucking?
, said hydrogen will play a critical role in trucking because of its high energy density. 鈥淗ydrogen fuel cell vehicles offer advantages in heavy duty trucking that BEV cannot,鈥� he said.
They can provide a longer driving range, about 450 miles, haul a full payload, and be refueled quickly. Stephens said the fueling experience is similar to what drivers are already used to today, using a nozzle to connect the fuel pump to the truck. 鈥淭he driver doesn鈥檛 have to do anything out of the norm like they would with batteries,鈥� he said.
Litvinov said drivers like the hydrogen trucks. 鈥淔rom the drivers鈥� perspective, it is a far superior product. There is powerful acceleration and great performance. A lot of the feedback from the drivers is they don鈥檛 feel as fatigued,鈥� he said.
However, hydrogen costs more than diesel, costing about twice the price of diesel. Stephens said the price will come down as adoption increases. Subsidies can also help. FEF received funding from the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission for the Oakland station and is a Tier 1 Partner in California鈥檚 Hydrogen Hub initiative, ARCHES, which received a $1.2 billion award from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board, said she doesn鈥檛 see an 鈥渆ither/or鈥� decision when it comes to hydrogen and BEVs. 鈥淭here are use cases for both,鈥� she said.
// This article was created for , the magazine of the 黑料社区Foundation. The is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. The 黑料社区Foundation provides programs and products to strengthen travel plazas鈥� ability to meet the traveling public’s needs through improved operational performance and business planning. Visit for more information. ()
Subscribe to Updates
The 黑料社区Foundation and 黑料社区provide a breadth of information created to strengthen travel plazas鈥� ability to meet the needs of the traveling public in an age of disruption. This includes knowledge filled blog posts, articles and publications. If you would like to receive a digest of blog post and articles directly in your inbox, please provide your name, email and the frequency of the updates you want to receive the email digest.
