With the official issuance and implementation of the domestic National VI B emission amendment for motor vehicles, the commercialization process of hydrogen internal combustion engines in China has reached a critical turning point. Recently, Weichai Power's independently developed new-generation high-power vehicular hydrogen internal combustion engine has fully entered the CATARC testing base to undergo comprehensive official standardized certification tests, including vehicle emissions, power durability, and vehicle adaptability. This is also the first batch of commercial hydrogen internal combustion engine products in China to enter the national-level official compliance testing process.
Prior to this, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles already had well-established policies for license plate registration and road access, but hydrogen internal combustion engine commercial vehicles have long lacked compliance access standards, preventing related models from being legally registered and operated, which greatly constrained the large-scale promotion of the technology. The current National VI B amendment specifically adds detailed regulations for hydrogen internal combustion engine emission control, clearly defining emission limits, testing methods, and vehicle access requirements for hydrogen internal combustion engine motor vehicles, thereby completely removing the regulatory barriers for hydrogen internal combustion engine vehicles.
Compared with hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, hydrogen internal combustion engines can leverage existing diesel engine production lines and vehicle chassis architectures, with lower retrofitting costs and more stable low-temperature performance, making them more suitable for high-load commercial applications such as cold-chain transportation, mining and muck hauling, and long-haul logistics. With the smooth progress of this official testing, heavy-duty trucks and buses equipped with Weichai hydrogen internal combustion engines are expected to achieve mass production and legal road registration within the year. Industry forecasts predict that the domestic hydrogen internal combustion engine commercial vehicle market will exceed RMB 10 billion by 2027, becoming the second growth curve for the new energy transformation of commercial vehicles.