Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Toyota is stepping up its commitment to hydrogen fuel cell trucks both by unveiling a new set of Class 8 heavy-duty trucks and by partnering with three major Japanese convenience store chains on trials of fuel cell electric delivery truck deliveries.
In the first instance, Toyota Motor North America Research and Development has produced a set of production-intent prototype trucks that are being prepared to run drayage routes at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to validate their performance, efficiency, and drivability.
The firm says that these second-generation fuel cell vehicles have over 480 kilometers of range at their full load weight of 40 tons.
“This is an important step in the transition to emissions-free heavy-duty trucks,” said Andrew Lund, chief engineer at Toyota Motor North America Research and Development. “Our first prototype trucks proved that a fuel cell electric powertrain was capable of hauling heavy cargo on a daily basis. These new prototypes not only use production-intent hardware, they will also allow us to start looking beyond drayage into broader applications of this proven technology.”
These prototype Class 8 trucks use Kenworth T680 chassis as well as a cab and chassis from Toyota’s subsidiary, Hino Motors.
In the second instance, Toyota will be conducting Japan-based testing light fuel cell trucks in partnership with Seven-Eleven Japan, FamilyMart, and Lawson in order to measure their capabilities in terms of transporting merchandise between distribution centers and convenience stores.
These lighter vehicles have a maximum weight capacity of about 3 tons and a cruising range of about 400 kilometers on one tank of hydrogen.
Many experts believe that, among zero emissions technologies, hydrogen will prove to have many key advantages over battery electric vehicles particularly when it comes to the performance of heavy trucks and on long-haul journeys.