Reliance Industries to convert its 5,000 ICE trucks to green hydrogen-powered H2ICE trucks by mid-2024

Reliance Industries is planning to convert close to 5,000 trucks into hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2ICE) powered trucks by mid-2024. These are trucks that the multinational conglomerate uses for its internal purposes. A senior official confirmed this to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of the 2nd SIAM International Symposium for Thriving on Eco-Energy in Mobility (ISTEM).

The official added that close to 6,000 kilograms of hydrogen have been dispensed for this purpose by Reliance Industries out of its Jamnagar Facility where these trucks are currently going through advanced trials.

“We have had near zero downtime in the trials and we have found that H2ICE powered hydrogen trucks are three times more efficient than diesel. We will start introducing these in our fleet before rolling out the entire ecosystem for a hydrogen powered economy," the senior company official said.

As part of its green energy pursuits, Reliance Industries has planned to establish 100GW of renewable energy, solar giga factory, battery manufacturing, and green hydrogen production, charting a transformative energy transition.

The company official said that in the future, Reliance Industries is looking at setting up a network of hydrogen dispensation stations along routes such as Mumbai to Delhi which could be in the range of a 1,500 kilometre-run. This distance would be doable for a H2ICE powered truck which can easily run for 350 kms on a single fill. So a truck supported by four to five hydrogen dispensation fuel stations could potentially do a Mumbai-Delhi run. “Gradually, the country can go completely green and free of diesel consumption,” he added.

Reliance's solar giga factory at Jamnagar, has set ups for PV modules, cells, wafers, ingots, polysilicon and glass, all of which will be manufactured at a single location. “This will be one of the largest, most technologically advanced, flexible, and most cost-competitive Solar giga factories globally and will be converting sand into Solar PV modules,” Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries had said earlier.  

Reliance industries has planned to invest USD 10 billion in capex to build its new energy ecosystem. It has tied up with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to supply green hydrogen.

H2ICE powered trucks emit near-zero emissions and deliver performance that is on par with conventional diesel trucks by reducing noise and with projected reductions in operating costs.

As part of its Net Carbon Zero Vision, Reliance Industries, along with Ashok Leyland and other technical partners, have been engaged in developing this unique technology since last year with the first engines running in early 2022.

Rajendra Petkar, President and Chief Technology Officer of Tata Motors, who was also present at the ISTEM seminar said that the H2ICE technology which was in the laboratory, is now ready to run on roads, as it satisfies all norms prescribed by the government regulations.