Future of SuperTruck Program in Doubt After Funding Pullback
DOE's Initiative Centered on Achieving Fuel-Efficiency Gains for Heavy-Duty Vehicles
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The future of the s SuperTruck program appears in doubt in light of the clawing back of federal funds that support it as well as comments from participating truck manufacturers.
The agency in an Oct. 2 release announced the termination of $7.5 billion in grants for 223 projects approved by the Biden administration, including Paccar Inc.’s SuperTruck 3 project. Paccar was one of three manufacturers of Class 8 trucks participating in the initiative; Daimler Truck North America and Volvo Trucks North America were the others.
DOE launched the SuperTruck program in 2009. The goal of the public-private initiative — jointly funded by DOE and participating manufacturers — was to study and develop technologies that could help improve heavy-truck efficiency, and be optimized for commercial deployment.
A spokesperson for DTNA told Transport Topics that the company’s SuperTruck 3 initiative — which was focused on development of two high-efficiency hydrogen fuel cell-powered trucks — was winding down two years ahead of schedule but would result in a third concept truck.
“We can confirm that funding for our SuperTruck 3 program, jointly supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and Daimler Truck North America, will conclude at the end of 2025,” the spokesperson said. “Our intention is to complete the remaining milestones for this phase of the program — we’re currently in year three of a five-year initiative — with the goal of having a prototype vehicle built by the end of the year.”
Three Paccar representatives declined to comment on the funding pullback for its SuperTruck program. VTNA did not provide a response to questions about the future of its SuperTruck 3 program. DOE did not respond to requests for comment.
The initial SuperTruck initiative aimed to improve heavy-duty truck freight efficiency by 50%. The follow-up SuperTruck 2 in 2016 sought to double fuel efficiency for Class 8 trucks. SuperTruck 3 focused on development of electric technology.
Per DOE, SuperTruck 3 specifically aimed to reduce medium- and heavy-duty truck greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions by 75% on a life cycle basis and reduce total cost of truck ownership, with a focus on electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
General Motors and Ford Motor Co. also were participating in SuperTruck 3. Ford did not reply to a request for comment, but GM told Transport Topics that the fuel cell development program at the center of its SuperTruck 3 initiative was winding down.
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“We are ending all hydrogen fuel cell development to focus our engineering resources on battery-electric vehicles. That would include DOE projects including the SuperTruck,” said Stu Fowle, the manufacturer’s senior director of global technology and innovation communications.
Fowle said the shift was part of a broader strategy GM is deploying focused on electric technology.
“While hydrogen holds promise for specific high-demand industrial applications like backup power, mining and heavy trucking, the path to reaching a sustainable business in fuel cells is long and uncertain,” the company said. “High costs and limited hydrogen infrastructure in the U.S. has limited consumer adoption of fuel cell-powered vehicles. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, only 61 hydrogen refueling stations exist nationwide, compared with more than 250,000 Level 2 or faster electric vehicle charging locations.”
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