The Paul Group and Palfinger are starting a development partnership in the field of hydrogen drives for commercial vehicles and are presenting the PH2P truck with an electrically operated Palfinger hook device at Bauma 2022.
As part of their development partnership, the Paul Group and Palfinger are presenting for the first time a pre-series vehicle with hydrogen fuel cell technology based on the PH2P with integration of the electro-hydraulically operated Palfinger hooklift. It is the Palfinger Telescopic T15A.
The hook device has a maximum lifting capacity of 15 tons, can be used universally and has increased tipping power thanks to a bi-point geometry. Palfinger relies on the expertise of the Paul Group when it comes to enabling battery-electric operation of the hook loader structure on a high-performance hydrogen fuel cell carrier vehicle. The integration of a Palfinger lifting solution on an alternatively powered vehicle is less challenging at the interface than the mechanical integration, which requires, among other things, an appropriate placement of the hydrogen tanks and batteries.
Andreas Klauser, CEO of Palfinger, explains: “Openness to technology is a must. Our goal is for our customers to be able to use all of Palfinger’s solutions and products on any vehicle without any problems – regardless of the drive. The development partnership with the Paul Group is an interesting opportunity to exchange ideas on the subject of alternative drives and to use potential synergies.”
Around 450 kilometers range
The PH2P truck is the first production-ready, eligible, medium-duty hydrogen fuel cell truck with a total weight of 16 tons and a range of around 450 kilometers from Germany. The first 25 vehicles from series production by the Paul Group will be delivered to customers by the end of 2022. The top speed of the PH2P truck is 85 km/h, the continuous output is 120 kilowatts and the peak output is 300 kilowatts. It can be filled up within 10 to 15 minutes. The Paul Group is active in the field of new mobility in the series production of its own vehicle developments as well as in terms of after-sales service, maintenance and repair through to digital services, training and certification. The prototype presented is part of the Paul Group’s new Paul Hydrogen Power product line.
The Next Mobility consortium, which includes the vehicle developer Paul Group, the petrol station operator Maier Korduletsch and Shell Germany, also provides the appropriate refueling infrastructure. It enables a regional, scalable value chain with the production of green hydrogen, electrolyser, logistics and fueling options. Through Shell, transport logistics companies can use a flexible pay-per-use model and integrate the system into their vehicle fleet risk-free and cost-effectively. In August 2022, Maier Korduletsch started building one of the most powerful H2 filling stations in Europe on the Paul company premises in Passau.
Paul Group Managing Director Bernhard Wasner: “We have entered into a development partnership with Palfinger, in which we can jointly gain experience in the design and operation of new technologies. We are pleased to be able to present our PH2P truck with Palfinger hooklift integration as a pre-series vehicle for the first time at Bauma 2022. We are confident that we will continue this cooperation with Palfinger in the form of further projects in the future when it comes to climate-neutral drives.”
