Henan province has become the first Chinese provincial-level region this year and seventh overall to exempt hydrogen-powered trucks from paying highway toll fees.

Hydrogen trucks in China’s central Henan will not need to pay highway fees between Jan. 25 and Dec. 31 this year, according to an announcement released by the provincial government on Jan. 6.

“This policy is very welcomed because highway tolls account for about 20 percent of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles’ lifetime costs,” Zheng Hui, a marketing staffer at a listed hydrogen fuel cell company, told Yicai.

With the new policy, the total lifetime cost of hydrogen trucks will likely slump to CNY5 million (USD681,990) from CNY6.7 million, or oven under CNY4.1 million after national and local subsidies, Tebon Securities’ analyst Guo Xue predicted. As a result, using hydrogen trucks will cost much less than diesel trucks, she noted.

This policy not only accelerates the adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles but also aligns with their operational needs, avoiding situations where vehicles remain idle after receiving subsidies, Guo explained.

China had about 25,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as of October last year, according to a research report by Sinolink Securities. The National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration released a plan in March 2022 to achieve a minimum of 50,000 such vehicles by the end of this year.

As the hydrogen production, supply, storage, and distribution network continues to improve and more demonstration cities, subsidies, and cost reduction policies are introduced, hydrogen-powered vehicles are showing their full commercial potential, said Yao Yao, a hydrogen energy analyst at Sinolink Securities. Application scenarios for fuel cell vehicles, particularly in long-distance logistics transportation, are gradually expanding, he added.

（Picture: Veer）