Vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, and science, as well as small and medium-sized companies, including DEUTZ, KIT, The German Aerospace Center (DLR), Purem by Eberspaecher, Claas, Braunschweig University of Technology, Liebherr, Nagel, Umicore, NGK and Castrol, have joined forces to investigate the cross-application use of hydrogen-engine powertrain concepts for construction and agricultural applications.

The three-year “PoWer” project is being funded with €5.1 million by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and supported by TÜV Rheinland. MAHLE has been commissioned to manage the project.

Hydrogen engines offer many advantages thanks to their inherent characteristics such as efficiency, robustness, and low raw emissions, which make them particularly suitable for applications in construction and agricultural machines.

Off-road applications will be demonstrated and analyzed in vehicle concept studies as well as in systemic fleet and infrastructure considerations. Exhaust gas aftertreatment concepts will also be developed and comprehensively tested on the test bench. By examining the influence of hydrogen on materials and the friction and wear characteristics, as well as qualifying these results in engine runs, all the fundamentals essential for achieving the extreme robustness requirements, taking into account future emissions guidelines of NRMM, will be developed.

MAHLE is involved in all major hydrogen engine projects as well as development and series projects for fuel cell vehicles.