Volvo, Daimler Lead Push For Hydrogen Trucks Across Europe
Eight Companies Align On Infrastructure, Pricing, And Policy To Make Hydrogen Trucking Competitive With Diesel By 2030
At IAA Transportation in Hanover, Germany, on September 15, 2026, eight companies spanning trucking, technology, and energy — Volvo Group, Daimler Truck, Toyota Motor Corporation, Bosch, Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, TEAL Mobility, and MB Energy — unveiled plans to accelerate the rollout of hydrogen-powered vehicles across Europe. The announcement centers on Germany, where industry leaders say the necessary conditions are now in place for scalable hydrogen truck deployment by 2030, the first time such conditions have existed anywhere in Europe.
Scaling that model continent-wide will require aligned support from national governments and the European Commission to ensure long-term energy resilience and competitiveness. The group frames hydrogen as a complement to battery-electric vehicles in meeting the EU’s decarbonization targets, particularly for truck operations that need long range, high payload capacity, rapid refueling, and operational flexibility.
Daimler Truck said its customers have driven nearly 372,823 miles (600,000 km) with fuel cell trucks to date, and the company plans to deploy 100 next-generation fuel cell trucks into customer operations starting at the end of 2026. Daimler Truck is also preparing its first hydrogen combustion engine trucks for market launch next year and plans to invest a mid-three-digit-million-euro amount in hydrogen trucks by the end of the decade. Volvo Group is advancing a similar hydrogen portfolio, investing in both fuel-cell and hydrogen-combustion trucks for market rollout toward 2030.
Toyota Motor Corporation is participating as a technology partner, contributing more than 30 years of experience developing and supplying fuel cell systems. Bosch is supplying key vehicle components for gaseous hydrogen, including a fuel cell system proven over more than 18.64 million miles (30 million km) on the road, along with refueling technologies for both liquid and gaseous hydrogen.
On the energy and infrastructure side, Volvo Group and Daimler Truck are working with hydrogen suppliers Air Liquide and TotalEnergies, along with retail operators MB Energy and TEAL Mobility, to scale liquid and gaseous hydrogen supply chains. TEAL Mobility is a 50/50 joint venture between TotalEnergies and Air Liquide that operates under the TotalEnergies brand. The companies are working toward large-capacity, high-throughput refueling stations able to serve up to 100 trucks per day, and are leveraging growth in industrial renewable hydrogen production driven by the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III).
Reaching cost parity with diesel is essential to fleet operator adoption, the group said, and depends on three levers: lowering truck costs through incentives and series production, reaching diesel-competitive hydrogen pump prices through a more competitive supply chain and greenhouse gas quota mechanisms, and offering operating incentives such as zero-emission toll exemptions.
Demand already appears to be responding. Recent applications under Germany’s National Organisation for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW) funding program were oversubscribed, with industrial companies applying for more than 70 high-capacity stations and 800 heavy-duty trucks, a sign the group called strong commercial pull from the logistics sector.
While Germany is serving as the operational launchpad, the industry leaders are calling for strategic measures at the continental level, backed by national governments and the European Commission, to replicate the German model across Europe. Those measures include synchronized funding for refueling stations and vehicles to meet Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) targets, harmonized renewable fuel credit mechanisms and toll incentives, and joint de-risking of the value chain from production and liquefaction through distribution and vehicle operation.
The companies frame the combination of industrial execution and policy support as the foundation needed to scale zero-emission freight while reinforcing Europe’s industrial competitiveness, energy resilience, and employment, alongside cutting emissions from road freight.
