Bosch expects 10-15% of trucks sold in India to be H2ICE by 2030

As the shift towards cleaner alternatives gains momentum, hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles may see a penetration of 10-15 percent in the Indian truck market by the end of this decade, according to a global auto component major Bosch.

“We expect between 10-15 percent of all trucks sold by 2030 to be with hydrogen ICE technology,” Guruprasad Mudlapur, President of the Bosch Group in India and Managing Director, Bosch Limited told investors in a post-earnings conference call. 

Hydrogen ICE vehicles are at a nascent stage in India and companies are testing the technology. Commercial vehicle makers are looking at hydrogen-powered ICE trucks for long-haul and heavy-duty segments, considering its potential to provide better total cost of ownership advantage over diesel engines. Last year, Ashok Leyland and Reliance Industries introduced India’s first hydrogen ICE-powered heavy-duty truck.

“Hydrogen ICE is currently undergoing a design maturity phase with most OEMs. We are working with them quite closely. Almost all OEM partners have trucks running within their premises or on the streets. We also have a truck ready and that is undergoing tests,” he noted.

The government of India has a scheme under the National Green Hydrogen Mission to support the development of technologies to use green hydrogen as a fuel in buses, trucks and four-wheelers, based on fuel cell-based propulsion technology or internal combustion engine-based propulsion technology.

Autocar Professional recently reported that the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has received thirteen technical bids for pilot projects for using green hydrogen in the transport sector.

Tata Cummins Green Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Tata Cummins Pvt Ltd, has also opened a new facility in Jamshedpur to manufacture hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines for medium and heavy commercial vehicles, alongside other low-to-zero emission technologies.

For vehicles powered by hydrogen, Bosch offers fuel injection system, electronic control unit, and products for the storage and supply of hydrogen. Mudlapur noted that the component maturity of the hydrogen ICE technology would take a while but it would not be a bottleneck.