glickenhaus unveils its hydrogen boot fuel cell off-roader

SCG’s swappable solution for hydrogen-powered truck

two weeks ago scuderia cameron glickenhaus (SCG) released images of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered off-road vehicle to race the baja 1000. now, over the weekend, the american car manufacturer has unveiled more details of how the hydrogen truck will be refueled. in the recent press release, jim glickenhaus said the vehicle will be equipped with swappable cryogenic hydrogen tanks. ‘our refueling solution is swappable DOT compliant tanks filled with cryogenic hydrogen that can be easily changed 24/7/365 worldwide as one swaps out propane BBQ tanks. this can happen at home or in existing gas stations or parking lots.’

images courtesy of scuderia cameron glickenhaus

hydrogen vs batteries

the hydrogen boot system is being developed for larger applications where glickenhaus says batteries are not as efficient. ‘the proponents of batteries often forget to mention that batteries today store less than 0.5 megajoules of energy per kilogram of battery. by comparison, gasoline has approximately 46 MJ/kg, and hydrogen has around 120 MJ/kg,’ explained glickenhaus. ‘therefore, in energy-limited applications, battery technology is not a replacement for liquid hydrocarbon fuels. generally, the larger the vehicle, the more energy density matters, and batteries will not work for those applications that are larger in size, such as planes, ships, trucks, pickup trucks.’

he continued, ‘our truck is something you can drive to the baja 1000, race 1000 miles, and drive home. the baja is a brutal race, the longest continuous off-road race globally. there is not a battery-electric vehicle in the world that can successfully run the baja 1000.’

the glickenhaus hydrogen fuel cell boot one is targeting a range of 600-1000 miles and a much bigger load capacity than battery-powered electric pickup’s. the revolutionary system is aiming to become the future of transportation.