Paccar, Toyota bringing fuel-cell-electric trucks to market
Beginning early in the next year, Paccar will produce Kenworth and Peterbilt Class 8 vehicles that use Toyota's Gen 2 hydrogen fuel cell module to bring hydrogen-powered trucks to Canada and the United States.
In 2025, series production is expected to get going.
During a keynote address at ACT Expo, Paccar vice president and chief technology officer John Rich said, "Today a new partnership is born that will set the stage for the next 100 years."
"Hydrogen presents the best zero-emission technology solution for long-distance Class 8 trucks, where range, weight, weight capacity, and refueling downtime are critical," the author said. There is no pilot here. This is not a test, though. Not a trial, exactly. We completed everything. This tool has all the durability and uptime requirements of a diesel engine, and it has been purchased, deployed, and supported.
The vehicles are the result of a cooperative pilot operation between Toyota and Paccar at the Port of Los Angeles, which involved 10 prototype Kenworth T680 FCEVs.
The trucks in that Shore to Store trial traveled 200 miles (322 km) per day while they compared the fuel-cell electric cars against a baseline of 2017 diesel engines. Accordingly, each truck annually saved 74.66 metric tons of CO2.
It was a component of a larger program called Zero and Near Zero Emissions Freight Facilities. Shell also constructed three hydrogen filling stations to aid in the project.
Range and capability
"When we consider what our clients have to say about range and capability, we find that they are searching for products that function very similarly to the current generation of diesel powertrain vehicles. And we're able to significantly increase that range with the fuel-cell trucks," said Kenworth chief engineer Joe Adams.
In contrast to battery-electric alternatives, the Kenworth T680 FCEV, which will be on show at the event, has a range of up to 450 miles (725 km), depending on the circumstances. To support gross combination weight standards of 82,000 lb, it has a 310-kW twin motor assembly from Toyota that is capable of delivering 415 continuous horsepower.
According to Paccar officials, it can be replenished in approximately 20 minutes, and California will soon have roughly a dozen high-pressure fueling stations.
Six iterations, two generations
"Under the hood, what we have packaged in here is our second-generation commercialized fuel cell module," said Chris Rovik, Toyota's executive program manager for advanced mobility, at a press event. This truck, which we created in partnership with Kenworth and a Toyota fuel cell power-plant, is actually the sixth version of the design. Additionally, the second-generation fuel cell stack is in the third generation of trucks.
"We've really worked on improving the packaging efficiency to allow this power-plant to kind of be dropped in online in the production line as it exists today -- not needing to do any sort of cell build or anything like that."
The hydrogen storage cabinet behind the cab, the stacks, the power-plant under the hood, a high-voltage battery for extra power and regenerative braking when necessary, the eDrive, and the transmission are all included in the fuel cell package.
According to Matt Stich, general manager of fuel cell solutions at Toyota Motor North America, "We've demonstrated this hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric technology in real-world settings and are excited to support commercial customers' efforts to operate more sustainably."