Hydrogen Trucks Are NOT The Future—Not Until Chile Solves The Infrastructure Nightmare

Hello everyone. Today’s session of applied skepticism involves a giant truck, a tank of highly explosive gas, and the ever-optimistic claim that the future is here. Yes, apparently the next chapter in Latin America’s heavy logistics is kicking off in Chile, with exactly one — count it, one — hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty truck. Somebody queue the slow clap.

The Shiny New Toy

The setting: Santiago’s metropolitan area. The cast: Walmart Chile alongside the Chilean economic development agency Corfo and energy partner ENGIE. The plot: test whether one Chinese-manufactured hydrogen fuel cell truck can be the start of a grand plan for emission-free heavy transport. On paper, it’s brilliant — the truck can travel up to 750 km on a full load of 75 kg of hydrogen, and the only exhaust is pure, saintly water vapor. No CO2, no soot, no diesel stink. You can almost hear the environmentalists purring.

Let’s preempt the inevitable confusion — yes, it’s technically electric. It uses electricity generated inside the onboard fuel cell by combining hydrogen with oxygen in a controlled, combustion-free process. The truck then powers the motor electrically, just like your hipster cousin’s Tesla, but instead of plugging in, it gulps down hydrogen. Elegant, in theory. In medical terms, it’s like delivering oxygen via bloodstream rather than inhalation — clever, but still the same physiological endpoint.

Supporting Infrastructure: The Missing Level

We also have the glamorous supporting set piece — a 0.6 MW electrolyzer installed by ENGIE in 2023. It uses Chile’s renewable solar and wind power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, feeding not only the truck but also a fleet of warehouse hydrogen forklifts. A neat closed loop. The problem? You can’t exactly drive far with a single spawn point on the entire map.

There’s no national network of truck-capable hydrogen fuel stations — or “hydrolineras” — meaning this prototype is essentially a very fancy local delivery truck with a maximum roaming range defined by the multiplayer lobby it spawned in. As of today, fueling mid-route is not an option. And that, my friends, is where the AAA difficulty setting kicks in.

Scaling: More Than a Side Quest

The logistical riddle is straightforward: how many trucks justify the massive cost of a new fueling station? And where, exactly, do you place them so they’re useful without being bizarre white elephants in the middle of nowhere? Chile’s long, skinny geography isn’t doing anyone any favors here. If projections hold, they’d need dozens of high-volume refueling stations to service thousands of trucks by the 2030s. That’s less “plug-and-play” and more “raiding for infrastructure materials for years.”

In energy medicine terms, we’re talking about installing a nationwide network of specialized IV drips before we even know whether the patient will survive long-term on the treatment. And right now, the prognosis is unknown.

Why Hydrogen Trucks Make Sense… Sometimes

Yes, hydrogen trucks have advantages for long-haul heavy payload routes. They avoid the weight penalty of massive lithium batteries, they refuel quickly, and they deliver serious range. Zero tailpipe emissions is nothing to sneeze at either. But hydrogen’s Achilles’ heel is cost, lack of infrastructure, and the fact that it’s less energy-efficient than direct electric charging. This isn’t the one-size-fits-all transport meta; it’s a situational build that requires a map-specific strategy.

Chile’s move is less “final form” and more “let’s see if this build survives wave one.” It’s commendable — someone has to do the field test — but dressing it up as the dawn of a new age feels like announcing a game launch after only building the tutorial level. Sure, it’s a good start. But don’t sell me the DLC until I’ve cleared the base campaign.

Final Verdict

Look, I applaud the ambition. I genuinely want hydrogen trucking to succeed where it makes sense. But make no mistake — this is not “the future” yet. This is a prototype running in a controlled zone without the national infrastructure to back it up. It’s a flashy skin without the required patch update. If you buy into the hype, you risk a ragequit when reality’s load times kick in.

Promising? Absolutely. Revolutionary? Not yet. Until the logistics puzzle is solved, this is a great local test and a worthwhile initiative that is miles — or in this case, hundreds of kilometers — away from flipping the heavy transport meta.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.

Article source: Walmart ya ha homologado el primer camión de hidrógeno verde de Latinoamérica. Su gran límite: la infraestructura de carga, https://www.xataka.com/movilidad/walmart-tiene-primer-camion-hidrogeno-verde-homologado-latinoamerica-limite-esta-donde-puede-repostar