Hydra Energy

Enabling commercial scaling for an after-market H2 engine retrofit system by securing OEM partnership
Sector: Transportation
Technology: Low Carbon Hydrogen
NorthX Backing: $300,000
Project Value: $889,246
Project Status: Complete

The Problem

Hydrogen fuel cell and electric trucks have little range and are 4X the price of their incumbent, diesel. While hydrogen-diesel conversion kits support decarbonization, the time and calibration costs to find the optimal hydrogen injection rate remains a barrier to scaling up.

The Solution

Hydra Energy is the first company to deliver commercial hydrogen-diesel co-combustion trucks on the road, accelerating the transition to cleaner transport.

Hydra Energy is the first company to deliver commercial hydrogen-diesel, co-combustion trucks on the road accelerating the transition to cleaner transport. The company’s unique Hydrogen-as-a-Service™ (HaaS™) approach converts existing heavy-duty vehicles at zero cost to fleet owners in exchange for long-term, fuel contracts at diesel-equivalent prices. Currently Hydra’s proprietary conversion kits can displace up to 40% of diesel with hydrogen.

With funding from NorthX, this project will support the development of a machine learning system to expedite the calibration and safety testing of co-combustion engines that will enable scaling from the current conversion of 2-3 trucks per year to dozens of different makes and models.

This project is also removing another obstacle to widespread adoption – the preference for an OEM extended warranty. By not modifying the engine block, Hydra’s retrofit system does not void the OEM warranty. Technical and business preparations to satisfy OEM requirements for obtaining warranty extensions will also be fulfilled.

“The funding Hydra received from NorthX has been instrumental in our ability to scale up our business. With the funding and in partnership with First Truck, we could address a missing component of training mechanics so that Hydra can get our kits onto more trucks as well as offer maintenance. We now have the first version of a training manual for conversions enabling a conventional mechanic to become a Hydra installer.
JESSICA VERHAGEN, HYDRA

The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is now NorthX

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