Ruh-Roh Here Comes Another Electric Truck, With Fuel Cells

Sign up for CleanTechnica’s Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott’s in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and/or follow us on Google News!

Last Updated on: 29th April 2025, 04:10 am

The Intertubes lit up on April 28 with multiple auto industry observers reporting that volume production of the long-delayed Tesla Semi Class 8 electric truck has been pushed back to 2026. Derp! Meanwhile, other manufacturers are already in hot competition to nail a slice of the truck market, and some of them are focusing on lighter classes that present fewer challenges to electrification. The latest outfit to pile on is a new five-way consortium that plans to build Class 6 fuel cell electric trucks for the US market, aiming for full production as early as the latter part of 2026.

Where, Oh Where, Is The Semi Electric Truck?

When Tesla CEO Elon Musk first launched the idea of a Tesla-branded Class 8 truck back in 2017, the closest competition in the US was the fuel cell truck startup Nikola. The Nikola venture soon ran into trouble and finally went up in smoke just a few weeks ago, when the would-be truck maker finally filed for bankruptcy.

In another day and age, that would have left the field clear for Tesla, especially considering initial expectations that the Semi would be ready for production in 2019.

However, along comes 2022 and there is still no Semi in volume production. Musk staged a media event for the Semi project in December of 2022, in which he described plans to produce 50,000 trucks by 2024, but 2024 came and went without getting close to that figure.

Tesla did announce the start of construction for its Semi factory in Nevada in January of 2024. The company also began work on a facility to produce the loads of 4680 batteries needed to power the trucks. Things seemed to be moving along, but work was still underway as of April 11 of this year when Freight Waves noted that the delays have created some complications for Tesla’s would-be Semi customers.

Ryder, for example, scored funding from the California’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee to field 48 Tesla Semi trucks. The company reportedly downscaled the contracted plan to just 18 trucks and it also requested a 28-month extension to account for the delay on Tesla’s end. The extension will also cover delays related to a change in charging infrastructure.

For the record, this week’s news of a delay to 2026 confirms a report in Freight Waves dated October 23, 2024, which cited Tesla executives stating that full production will not be forthcoming this year.

Here Come The Class 6 Electric Trucks, With A Fuel Cell Twist

To be fair, electrifying a Class 8 truck is no walk in the park. Class 6 is a lighter, easier mark, some common examples being beverage trucks and school buses.

One could argue all day over whether or not Tesla could have, or should have, staked its claim to the Class 6 truck market as an easy-pickings followup to its high-profile Cybertruck “pickup truck” instead of putting all its eggs in the Class 8 basket. But that’s all water under the bridge now, and Tesla’s lapse leaves the Class 6 field open for other manufacturers.

The new Class 6 electric truck consortium is spearheaded by the leading US truck services firm Fontaine Modification (a Marmon Holdings/Berkshire Hathaway company) at its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, alongside the leading Canadian firm Ballard Power Systems and Linamar Corporationa, and the French company Forsee Power.

Fontaine is tasked with integrating the various truck systems, including batteries as well as fuel cells, on a 26,000-pound straight truck chassis, with straight referring to trucks in which the cab is fully attached to the body.

“Ballard Power Systems is supplying the fuel cell system, and Forsee Power is supplying the high-voltage battery system. Linamar Corporation is providing the FCEV’s eAxle,” Fontaine explains.

A fifth member of the team, Kentucky Trailer (another Berkshire Hathaway company), will take care of outfitting the body for use.

If all goes according to plan, a pilot truck will be ready for track testing at an independent facility this summer. With the track cycle completed, the truck will then be ferried off for six months of road trials with a to-be-named customer described as “a large commercial fleet in the U.S.”

“The consortium anticipates that upon successful completion of the field trial, regular production of the truck will begin as early as late 2026,” Fontaine affirmed in a press statement.

What’s The Big Deal About Class 6 Electric Trucks?

If you’re wondering why the new consortium is focusing on Class 6, that’s a good question. David Brosky, director of sales and business development—eMobility at Fontaine, explains that their new truck is aimed at the burgeoning middle-mile market between distribution centers, which have been sprouting up willy-nilly on the heels of the e-commerce boom.

“This segment is usually the longest, with runs within states or across regions of typically 300 to 500 miles,” Brosky states. “It’s that need for longer range that makes a fuel-cell system the best zero-emission option for efficiently powering a middle-mile truck.”

As for the fuel cell angle, without opening up a whole ‘nother can of worms, let’s just say that while the new truck is billed as a fuel cell EV, it can also be described as a hybrid fuel cell and battery EV. The battery is not just there to handle auxiliary tasks. Instead, it helps to cover the propulsion chores.

If that sounds needlessly complicated, that may be so. However, the idea of supplementing batteries with a range extender is not new. Last year, for example, word surfaced that Volvo’s forthcoming Scout EV is offering a gas-fueled range extender as an option. Other automakers have also adopted the idea. Though, General Motors can take credit for first use back in 2010, when it launched the Chevy Volt. The Volt electric sedan sported a gas tank to run an onboard generator in addition to a battery pack, with the aim of eliminating range anxiety.

Hydrogen fuel cell range extenders for trucks have also surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar, and apparently Ballard has spotted an opportunity to pitch its FCmove®-XD  fuel cell in the Class 6 area.

“The module provides an easy integration platform for vehicle OEMs and integrators and is designed to deliver up to 60 percent fuel efficiency with volumetric power density of 0.36kW/L while lasting over 30,000 hours in operation,” explains Nicolas Pocard, Ballard’s VP for marketing and strategic partnerships.

“Depending on the situation, the FCEV is driven by the battery, by the fuel cell, or by both if extra power is needed,” elaborates Forsee Power sales manager Jeremy Hiler.

“It was critical to offer a solution that can meet the technical needs of long distance (power peaks on highway) and local deliveries, optimizing the cost,” Hiler adds.

Hold on to your hats. In other new fuel cell truck news this week, on April 22, Honda lifted the veil on its Class 8 fuel cell electric truck concept at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, with full production expected in 2027. Also exhibiting at ACT is the DC-64 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tractor, a joint project of Autocar Trucks and GM aimed at the “severe-duty” market, meaning waste hauling and concrete mixing, among other tasks.

Photo (cropped): A five-way consortium aims to build fuel cell a Class 6 fuel cell electric truck for the North American market, aimed at decarbonizing middle-mile trips among warehouses (courtesy of Fontaine Modification).