The thermal management business and tech enterprise, Rheinmetall, has developed an innovative piece of technology. This is the plug-and-play heat pump solution, which will soon be installed in a hydrogen-powered truck. This addition to Rheinmetall’s collection of technical equipment, brings the potential for a significant amount of growth and expansion to the company, which is what they have been aiming for.

Whilst their innovative heat pumps are already in use throughout battery-powered commercial vehicles, construction equipment and boats, this order for one of their systems to be installed into a truck, brings Rheinmetall to a new point within the company’s journey. This step-forwards is highlighted in particular through the company’s new-found ability to anchor the new plug-and-play solution into a future-oriented sector: integration of the thermal module into a modern fuel cell-powered truck. This will bring the truck into the future, as well as Rheinmetall, who will open the door to further expansion in future-oriented fuels, with this installation. Especially as it is to a new customer.

Along with the potential of future projects, through winning the new order, Rheinmetall has already expanded the heat pump’s range of applications, as it is now a contender in the forward-looking H2 market. Furthermore, the technology is also suitable for both new and existing vehicle platforms, plus it is now available to be used for customer-specific individual applications. These new market opportunities are already something that Rheinmetall is looking to expand into.

The innovative new system, the plug-and-play heat pump, is a piece of technology that is fully preassembled and filled with coolant, that pumps heat and maximises the efficiency of the drive system, whilst simultaneously increasing the operating range of the vehicle. This will effectively increase the vehicle ability to sustainably travel longer distances.

Due to the EU climate goals, the truck sector of the transportation system will now have to follow much stricter rules, in order to continue operating. These rules involve things such as, by 2025 new models will be required to emit an estimated 15% less carbon dioxide, with this increasing to 30% by 2030. Not meeting these figures, could and will result in penalties. These rules also include the hope that by 2040, trucks will no longer operate with fossil fuels. These changes to the rules, are where fuel cells and equipment such as Rheinmetall’s system will soon become extremely valuable and will be technology that is brought forwards into the transportation sector’s future.

A huge benefit of Rheinmetall’s new system, is that it has a compact design, meaning it effectively saves precious installation space. This element of the system will very quickly make the equipment highly desirable, as due to what will soon be heavy demands on thermal management systems from fuel-cell powered vehicles, the compact design will set Rheinmetall’s system apart from the others.

A final benefit is the system’s ability to ensure precise conditioning of the fuel cell, whilst also aptly controls the climate within the passenger compartment.