German manufacturer Bosch has announced plans to launch its first hydrogen internal combustion engine for trucks this year, to add to its existing fuel cell and battery-electric offerings.

Hydrogen engines are less efficient than fuel cells, so vehicles using them will require more H2 to travel the same distance.

But proponents say they hydrogen engines are cheaper to buy and easier to maintain than fuel cells — which are more easily contaminated by dirt and dust, and require very high-purity H2 to run.

“The hydrogen engine represents a further option in the powertrain mix of the future,” Bosch Mobility explains on its website. “Particularly in challenging environmental conditions, the hydrogen engine is characterized by its high robustness.”

In other words, they may be better suited to off-road heavy-duty vehicles, with the website showing construction-industry diggers and farmyard tractors as possible solutions for the technology.