In 2022, KAMAZ will continue to develop hydrogen transport and plans to deliver an experimental batch of hydrogen fuel-cell buses to Moscow.
KAMAZ intends to develop two activities in terms of hydrogen transport: it is planned to produce passenger vehicles for Russia, and delivery trucks for Europe. According to Sergey Kogogin, General Director of KAMAZ, it is still difficult to hold face-to-face negotiations with potential European customers due to COVID restrictions, the choice of a niche as such is actually a non-issue. “We spent several technical days with foreign manufacturers, identified several stop factors. Firstly, this is the current price of a kilogram of hydrogen, secondly, the impact on the economy of the vehicle on its transportation, and thirdly, safety for which there is no regulatory framework in Russia yet. The roadmap of the working group led by Aleksandr Novak, Deputy Prime Minister, reflects the problem of the regulatory framework, and I think that we will deal with it in 2-3 years,” the head of KAMAZ outlined the prospects.
For passenger transport, an agreement with Moscow on the manufacture of sample vehicles has already been signed. In 2022, after testing, the hydrogen fuel-cell bus is planned to be delivered to the capital for testing, approximately in the fourth quarter. “There is no haste. Technology needs to be tested. Of course, we will first do this ourselves – test the vehicle completely, and only then we will transfer it to Mosgortrans for trial operation,” said Sergey Kogogin.
It should be recalled that KAMAZ engineers began developing hydrogen-powered vehicles at the beginning of 2021. The first results of the work were presented in September at the Comtrans-2021 exhibition in Moscow. KAMAZ presented to the general public its first hydrogen fuel-cell truck KAMAZ-6290. Among the advantages of the hydrogen bus is its environmental friendliness, the absence of a diesel heater for interior heating. Moreover, unlike an electric bus, which has a range of 70 km after a full charge of batteries, a hydrogen bus can travel 250 km, making it suitable even for long-distance traffic. In addition, during Comtrans-2021, the automaker, together with GreenGT, demonstrated a 44-tonne prototype truck with a 170 kW hydrogen fuel cell system with two 85 kW batteries.