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Scania and Westport Fuel Systems will cooperate in hydrogen research project

21 JANUARY 2021

Scania and Westport Fuel Systems have agreed to conduct research in the use of a High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) hydrogen fuel system with Scania’s latest generation engine.

Separate from well-known fuel cell technology, using hydrogen to fuel Scania engines could enable another use of the gaseous fuel in future vehicles. It would also be compatible with Scania’s current production systems, which is what Westport is looking to enable with their HPDI.

A sustainable transport system

While Scania engineers have gained valuable insights from tests with hydrogen fuel cells, driving the shift to a sustainable transport system requires both here-and-now-solutions as well as testing and exploring new and future solutions.

“We look forward to the results of this research, and how it can guide us in future decisions. However, research is always complex and we expect it to take quite some time before we see the outcome,” says Eric Olofsson, Senior Technical Advisor at Scania Powertrain Research & Technology. “We invested early on in hydrogen technologies, and going forward, the knowledge we achieve when participating in research projects enables us to make the best possible offering to our customers.”

Looking forward to research results

Westport, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, is a supplier of advanced fuel delivery components and systems, specialising in gaseous fuels. “Hydrogen use in an internal combustion engine with our HPDI fuel system could offer another cost-competitive pathway to reduce CO2 emissions from transportation,” says David M. Johnson, CEO of Westport Fuel Systems.

While the role that hydrogen will play in the future of transport is not yet clear, Scania continues to test and explore a wide range of renewable and electric alternatives to diesel.