"Europe is lagging behind the Asian market when it comes to hydrogen technology"

Winterthur-based Contreag AG is a pioneer in the use of hydrogen-powered cleaning vehicles. In this interview, Deputy Managing Director Fritz Lüdi Jr. tells us why the family-run company relies on hydrogen as a drive technology.

Mr. Lüdi, why does Contreag AG rely on hydrogen and not on electric trucks like other companies?
First and foremost, because hydrogen technology gives us a greater range and faster charging and refuelling. We are a company that operates throughout Switzerland and in our industry, container cleaning, we are on the road a lot. Our service does not allow us to charge the vehicles overnight and then carry out our tours all day the next day. We also need to be able to load and refuel the vehicles quickly during our tours. From this point of view, we consider the use of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles to be forward-looking.

What challenges did the acquisition of such a vehicle entail?
In the area of fuel cell technology, it has to be honestly said that European technological innovation is currently lagging behind the Asian market - especially South Korea. There is still a gap that needs to be closed in order to keep up internationally. We and our project partners first had to develop a great deal of expertise and implement it in this vehicle. This took a lot of time and, above all, money. The vehicle is one of the biggest investments we have ever made in our company's history - which of course involves an entrepreneurial risk.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen as a drive technology?
Once again, the advantages are clearly the points already mentioned, such as a longer range (up to 350km - 400km), which we as a service company with long distances to cover are reliant on. Our vehicles are also quite heavily loaded. The high payload has to be moved with a certain amount of energy - and not with a huge battery, but a relatively appropriate size. We need a lot of energy for our daily work, and the high-pressure pumps for container cleaning require a lot of energy. Hydrogen-powered technology also has its advantages in these areas - we don't have to recharge the vehicle several times a day for several hours. That would be neither economical nor employee-friendly. On the downside, the filling station network has not yet been fully developed and there is still a lack of political acceptance for hydrogen technology in general.

How do you assess the potential for hydrogen-powered trucks?
We see the greatest potential for hydrogen-powered trucks in long-distance logistics and the operation of work machines, as they would require huge batteries in relation to the size and weight of the vehicles in order to operate them adequately. The convenience of fast refueling times also offers great potential, although the infrastructure still needs to be expanded. And so it is ultimately also a question of political will to promote hydrogen technology and make it more accessible to companies. This also includes, for example, an efficient price at the hydrogen filling station. This is currently still twice as high as in Germany.

What happens after the first vehicle goes into operation?
First of all, we will have to gain experience with the new technology on the job. We also have to amortize the high investment costs over a longer period of time than with conventional vehicles. In order to also gain experience with other technologies, especially for shorter distances and smaller areas of application, we have already had a purely battery-powered cleaning vehicle developed and will be putting it into operation from 2024.

Interview: Linda Stratacò, October 2023