New hydrogen and vehicle conversion specialist, Iontrak GmbH, has been founded as a result of the Hylix-B funding project. Based in Zell unter Aichelberg in Germany, the startup has the business goal of developing, industrialising, producing and marketing vehicles with alternative drives and their components, particularly in the field of hydrogen trucks. The founding members of the company include Boysen Group, Daimler Truck, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, vehicle conversion company EFA-S, SWE-Mobility UG, Kommunikationsbüro Ulmer GmbH and Große-Vehne.
The Hylix-B project was a transdisciplinary effort aimed at underpinning the future viability of hydrogen technology for freight transport and demonstrating what scaling of the demand for green hydrogen could look like with a corresponding conversion of logistics fleets. A fully electric 26-ton truck with fuel cell drive and a range of 500 kilometers was built over the course of the two-year project, which was subsidised by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment.
The new startup will focus on developing series production and manufacturing small series of hydrogen trucks. Iontrak’s managing directors, Michael Herrmann and Dr. Till Kaz, have revealed that a 26t hydrogen truck will be approved for road use as early as Q4 2023. They added that, although it is a unique piece, further components from the hydrogen, battery and conversion environment are already being developed for market maturity.
According to Thekla Walker, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of the Environment, the founding of Iontrak is a success of the state funding program BWPLUS. The minister further stated that the rapid spread of hydrogen technologies and the infrastructure required for them is indispensable for a successful energy transition, particularly in the logistics industry.
