Verne, a San Francisco startup that is coming up with a cheaper, lighter refueling and tank formula to help hydrogen-powered semi-trucks adapt to the diversity and carrying capacity of big, dirty diesel rigs, has secured its first really major investment from private investors to commercialize the technology. If it works as proven, hydrogen-powered heavy-duty cars can be a good choice for emission-free road transport.
CEO Ted McKlveen, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alumnus, said the new round, the first the company has revealed, brings the cumulative investment to $15. 5 million. He declined to say exactly how many backers, adding Trucks Venture Capital, Collaborative Fund. , Amazon, United Airlines and Newlab, have invested in the round, though Verne has already raised less than $1 million, typically in the form of grants from the Department of Energy, according to an estimate by PitchBook.
The company, named after famed Frenchman Jules Verne, believes its patented hydrogen tank and low-pressure refueling formula, verified in checks conducted through Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will allow trucks using it to go as far as diesel models, without additional weight. and refuel just as quickly. The next step is to check with the “big” truck brands that McKlveen declined to identify.
“The goal is to achieve diesel-equivalent power — a complete diversity of more than 800 miles on your vehicle as you can with diesel and you can carry a full payload as you can with diesel,” he told Forbes. The way to achieve this is a higher-density form of storage. So, by having six high-pressure tanks, you can only have two of our tanks attached to the chassis of the truck, between the wheels, where the diesel tanks are today.
The news comes as truck makers such as Volvo, Daimler, Hyundai, Freightliner and Nikola begin launching heavy-duty battery-powered and hydrogen-powered models to reduce tailpipe emissions and greenhouse gases. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled new regulations mandating cleaner transportation. heavy-duty trucks and buses starting in 2027, as part of broader U. S. efforts to reduce carbon emissions. But electric trucks are more expensive than diesel models and have some limitations compared to traditional models.
Battery-powered trucks, for example, have incredibly heavy and bulky batteries that weigh several thousand pounds and save them from wearing out up to 60,000 pounds over distances greater than 300 miles. Charging them also takes much longer than refueling a diesel truck and calls on fleet operators to invest in expensive charging stations and find enough power to run them.
Hydrogen-powered cars are just as heavy (usually only about 1,000 pounds more than a diesel truck) and can be filled in about the same amount of time, even though the hydrogen charge is at least twice that of diesel fuel. than battery-powered trucks (Nikola touts a diversity of up to 500 miles with the hydrogen-powered semi-truck it sells in California), but not as far as long-haul diesel models.
The tanks used lately in hydrogen-powered vehicles, from Toyota’s Mirai sedan to Nikola’s Tre FCEV truck, are heavy, expensive parts wrapped in layers of carbon fiber around a layer of plastic, costing thousands of dollars each. They are designed to keep fuel at a very high compression ratio of 700 bar or 10,000 pounds per square inch. Verne’s method involves cooling hydrogen fuel and storing it to just 350 bar (5,000 PSI) in tanks made of aluminum, steel, and less carbon fiber. According to McKlveen, these vehicles are very expensive to manufacture and require more fuel.
“The amount of carbon fiber needed is reduced by about 75 percent, and this increased density has consequences later on. The first is the relief of garage expenses, because now you only need two tanks out of six,” he said.
The company has tested its tanks in a passenger vehicle and will use them until later this year in a full-size truck. In 2025, it will get tanks for testing from truck fleet operators. Subsequently, the company will concentrate on expanding its business operations in order to supply several truck manufacturers.
“Our purpose is to become an excellent leading supplier. You can think of us as a battery manufacturer, but for heavy-duty programs where the batteries don’t work,” McKlveen said.