GM hydrogen unit to supply fuel cells for Autocar’s heavy vehicles. On Thursday, General Motors (GM.N.) and Autocar Industries announced that they had agreed to collaborate on developing hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles. The Hydrotec fuel cell unit from the top automaker in the country will power these vehicles.

At the Autocar factory in Birmingham, Alabama, it is anticipated that the first of the new zero-emission vehicles customarily powered by diesel engines will begin production in 2026. These vehicles include cement mixers, dump trucks, garbage trucks, road maintenance vehicles, and terminal tractors.

In a statement, Hydrotec executive director Charlie Freese stated, “We want to enable zero tailpipe emissions solutions for the largest, highest energy-consuming vehicles, and fuel cells are ideal for the most energy-intensive applications.” Fuel cells are great for applications that require a significant amount of energy.

Hydrotec will supply “power cubes” that are made up of more than 300 hydrogen fuel cells, in addition to “thermal and power management systems and proprietary controls.” The power cube supplies a total of 77 kilowatts of electricity.

Increasingly, fleet operators are looking for a more practical alternative to electric cars, which has led to an increase in interest in hydrogen fuel cells as a means of powering trucks and vans.

Fuel-cell proponents and some long-haul fleet operators argue that batteries are too heavy, take too long to charge, and could overload power grids. This is because battery electric vehicles (BEVs) should replace most combustion engine cars, short-distance vans, and lorries over the next two decades.

The same consideration applies when it comes to big vehicles, such as cement mixers, which would require massive batteries to go any distance.

“As regulations change, we see Hydrotec fuel cells as an additional avenue for our customers to meet their EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requirements with zero tailpipe emissions vehicles,” said Eric Schwartz, president of Autocar, in a statement. “We see Hydrotec fuel cells as an ability to help our customers meet their targets.”

Hydrogen fuel cells, which combine hydrogen with oxygen to generate water and energy to charge a battery, allow for a far greater range than battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and can be refueled in minutes.