American Hydrogen Pickup Truck Teased With “Similar Cost, Capacity, Performance” As Diesel Pickups

Glickenhaus, the automaker behind beauties like the SCG004 and wild oddities like the Baja-conquering SCG Boot, has teased something new – a hydrogen-powered pickup truck it claims will have comparable performance and more importantly, cost, to a conventional diesel pickup truck. In a social media post, Glickenhaus confirmed the truck’s development and a few details, but the most alluring is its capabilities and cost parity with conventional trucks – something electric pickups like the Ford F-150 Lightning have yet to achieve.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power, Not Combustion

While details in the post were limited, a response to one commenter claimed “First test of our HFC 008 within weeks,” suggesting this may be a road-legal adaption of the hydrogen-powered off-road buggy that the manufacturer was developing to take on the Baja 1000 in an eco-friendly fashion. HFC is also a giveaway of the powertrain, as the three-letter acronym stands for “hydrogen fuel cell.”

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The truck will have swappable tank refueling capability, meaning you can switch out an empty tank of hydrogen for a full one in the same way you would a gas bottle on a camping stove, and Glickenhaus says it will also offer a “small unit that can fill our swappable tanks using solar and water to make H2.” Theoretically, that means a green hydrogen supply, which would be mighty impressive. Other details also seem impressive, as according to the post, the truck will boast the following:

• Available in two or four-door forms
• Six- and eight-foot bed lengths
• Up to 800 miles of range
• Similar cost, capacity, performance, and operating cost as a diesel pickup

Capabilities Sound Great, But Fall Short Of Original Claims

The statements about cost comparability to diesel trucks suggest this is likely to be a full-size truck, as that’s the only truck segment still available with diesel power after the Jeep Gladiator ditched diesel in the midsize segment. Currently, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is America’s cheapest diesel-powered pickup, with a price in the mid-$50k range for a double-cab LT with the Duramax engine option. The diesel Silverado can tow up to 13,300 lbs and haul a payload of up to 1,970 lbs in the right configuration, so if Glickenhaus can deliver a truck with comparable figures, it may be onto something highly capable.

Related

Glickenhaus Previews Mega-Range Hydrogen Truck

With a 600-mile range, it beats all of its electric competitors.

However, those who remember prior claims from Glickenhaus about what a hydrogen pickup truck could achieve may feel let down by a 20% drop in claimed range. That’s because back in 2021, Glickenhaus said a hydrogen version of the Boot in pickup form would be able to travel 1,000 miles and be capable of five-minute refuels. But back then, Glickenhaus referred to the model as the 010, so the 008 teased here may be a smaller model.

Time will tell if Glickenhaus can bring such a truck to market with the specs it claims, but if it can, the Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, and Ram 1500 REV may face some stiff competition.