By ATN Editorial Team
Summary: Horizon Fuel Cell has launched its latest integrated heavy vehicle fuel cell system, the VL-IV-240, at the CHFE 2025 in Foshan, China. Designed for heavy trucks and stationary power, it delivers a constant 240 kW and achieves a record 49% fuel efficiency — exceeding current industry benchmarks of 44–47%. The system builds on Horizon’s 400 kW stack and targets reduced total cost of ownership for heavy-duty fleets. Its VL-Series fuel cells are already validated globally and are increasingly being used in emerging applications such as powering AI data centers facing grid supply constraints.
Key engineering takeaway: The VL-IV-240 fuel cell achieves industry-leading 49% fuel efficiency at rated power, improving energy conversion and reducing hydrogen consumption for commercial and stationary applications.
Why it matters: Higher efficiency directly lowers operational costs and accelerates parity with diesel vehicles, while supporting new high-demand power sectors like AI data centers and grid-independent energy systems.
Horizon Fuel Cell formally launched the latest integrated fuel cell system designed for heavy trucks and stationary power solutions at the 9th International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Expo (CHFE 2025) being held in Foshan, China from 22 to 24 October 2025. The system leverages the previously announced 400kW fuel cell stack from Horizon, delivering constant power up to 240kW with significant efficiency improvements expected over fuel cells operating in heavy duty trucks deployed by numerous heavy vehicle OEMs around the world.
Fuel Efficiency at Rated Power is a key metric in this technology, and a major driver of commercial vehicle Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), due to the outsized expenditures on fuel in typical heavy vehicle operations. While industry benchmarks of fuel efficiency hover in the 44-47% range in the global market, the new VL-IV-240 from Horizon reaches an impressive 49%, surpassing all known comparable equipment. Large-scale adoption of fuel cell commercial vehicles is heavily dependent on TCO approaching that of diesel vehicles, so the improved fuel efficiency will be welcomed by fleet operators.
The VL-Series fuel cells developed by Horizon are among the world’s most widely validated heavy duty fuel cells, having been used to power Hyzon heavy duty trucks and numerous mobility and stationary applications in five continents and counting. Some recent applications include primary power solutions for AI Datacentres which are facing global challenges in securing suitable power supplies in an increasingly power-hungry world. Electrical grid operators and power generators simply can’t keep up with the burgeoning demand for AI computing capacity.
