One of the two trucks. Photo: Supplied / Toyota
The most remarkable thing about sitting in the passenger seat of the first New Zealand-built hydrogen truck is that you cannot really hear it move.
While New Zealand Post had a big hydrogen-powered truck on the road for two years, it was the only one of its kind, and because the trucks looked similar to diesel ones, they were hard to spot until you were close enough to hear - or notice there was no exhaust fumes.
Now, two more are ready for the roads, subject to a bit of last-minute testing.
Truck leasing firm TR Group has ordered 20, but because they were unfamiliar to truckies and truck operators, they gave curious potential customers the chance for a spin around the race track at Hampton Downs, south of Auckland, on Thursday.
One truck was built fully in New Zealand by Christchurch based Global Bus Ventures, the other by Hyundai.
Any engine noise was almost impossible to hear over the racetrack's other, more typical occupants - fossil fuelled race cars.
New Zealand post's hydrogen-powered truck. Photo: ELOISE GIBSON / RNZ
My truck driver commented he could hear each individual bump in the big truck's tyres.
Even the drone hovering overhead capturing images was louder than the trucks, despite these being what owner TR group calls "the big end of town."
The sound and acceleration feels similar to an electric car, only bigger.
With many companies trying to reduce freight emissions, TR Group believes there's a market for big, zero emissions trucks that can carry loads too large, or too continuous, to suit the refuelling capacity of the electric trucks currently available in New Zealand.
Some of the firms at the event were using electric battery trucks already, but looking for something bigger. Others were deciding on their next move, but wanting to signal to customers that they cared about tackling what - in one speaker's words - "everyone is worrying about."
One freight firm representative said his company was "desperate" to get hydrogen trucks, but cost was a barrier, and they were still working out logistics of refuelling.
With four hydrogen fuelling stations in Auckland, Hamilton and soon to be Tauranga, refuellers Hiringa Energy have what they call the "golden triangle" covered with stations that look from the outside just like stacked shipping containers.
One guest wanted to know when the South Island would get its turn at hydrogen fuelling - the answer was roughly 2027, or when there were about 20 trucks operating in the South Island to make it feasible.
The refuelling stations are being built and operated by Taranaki-based Hiringa, which draws electricity at off peak times when it's cheaper and uses it to convert purified tap water to hydrogen at its refuelling sites. The trucks make no exhaust fumes - only water.
Reviews after driving the trucks were mostly positive.
One experienced driver in the waste industry said the hydrogen truck drove "really well" and as smoothly as he expected, though he'd like to try pulling a load before delivering a final verdict.
For TR Group boss Brendan King, these trucks have been a while coming.
After winning government funding to buy New Zealand's first twenty hydrogen trucks, TR lodged an order with Hyzon, and successfully found customers to lease all 20.
Then Hyzon went bust.
That has been both good and bad, he said. Half the replacement trucks are being made in New Zealand by Global Bus Ventures while the others, made by Hyundai, are a familiar design on our roads, so overall he's happier with the vehicles.
But finding customers to lease them all over again has been a challenge given there's now much tougher economic times, he said.
TR says there are takers lined up for the initial batch, and NZ Post's hydrogen truck has run for two years without problems.
But while they're attracting interest, the trucks aren't cheap and that was a topic of discussion among those waiting for a turn to drive.
Government subsidies allowed TR to buy the first twenty, enabling it to offer them for lease to those who mightn't want to commit to buying their own.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, which administered the funding, says having 20 driving around will allow companies to compare them with electric options in real New Zealand conditions.
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