Chevrolet Silverado ZH2 hydrogen pickup truck for U.S. Army.

GM Defense is developing a rugged military pickup truck based on the Silverado and powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology, similar to the Colorado ZH2 of 2016, also developed with the US Army.

Chevrolet Silverado ZH2 hydrogen pickup truck (Picture source: GM Defense)

The new vehicle is called the Silverado ZH2 and is part of General Motor’s new military defense unit, which took over fulfilling military contracts when the automaker sold those operations to Humvee manufacturer General Dynamics back in 2003, as recalled by Driving website. The ZH2 rides on “race-proven Multimatic dynamic suspension,” and the design of the truck also looks to preview the 2020 Silverado.

The new truck is powered by two proprietary systems: the Hydrotec fuel cell; and the Jouletec battery system. The hydrogen cell provides between 50 and 100 kilowatts of power and turns out pure water as a byproduct. That H2O can then be captured and used—it’ll put out up to two gallons per hour, according to GM. The vehicle will have over 640 kilometres of range and can be recharged in just three minutes. Last year GM and Honda announced they would be working together to build more efficient fuel-cell stacks as part of GM’s plan to offer 20 new battery electric and fuel-cell vehicles to retail customers by 2023. The ZH2, however, is not available to the public.