Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan and Hino Motor Corporation of Japan announced that they have jointly developed a fuel cell heavy truck, which is currently in the stage of testing and verification before practical application.
The new fuel cell heavy truck was jointly developed on the basis of the Hino Profia heavy truck, making full use of the advanced technology jointly developed by Toyota and Hino. The chassis of this model adopts the best design of the fuel cell car, and it can ensure sufficient load capacity by reducing the weight. The powertrain of this model consists of two fuel cell stacks newly developed by Toyota and adopts the vehicle driving control system of hybrid heavy vehicles developed by Hino. The cruising distance of this model is about 600 km, so as to meet the high standards of environmental performance and commercial vehicle performance.
At present, Toyota is developing the T600 heavy truck in the US Portal Profect project. It also uses two self-developed fuel cells and four composite type IV hydrogen storage cylinders that can withstand 70 MPa pressure. The composite gas cylinder is developed and manufactured by Norwegian Hexagon Composites Company and its subsidiary Agility Fuel Solutions. Five of the 10 trucks produced by the project have been completed and are undergoing a series of tests.
Toyota and Hino announced the ambitious goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 2050. The target emissions will be significantly reduced by 90% compared to Toyota ’s CO2 emissions in 2010 and Hino ’s CO2 emissions in 2013. To achieve this emission reduction goal, the environmental performance of heavy trucks needs to be greatly improved. Currently, the CO2 emissions of Japanese heavy trucks account for 60% of the total emissions of commercial vehicles (total weight> 3.5 tons).
In order to realize the electrification of commercial vehicles, and in order to ensure excellent environmental performance and practicality, the best power system must be used. Heavy trucks are usually used for road transportation, therefore, they must have sufficient cruising range, loading capacity, and fast charging ability.
Toyota and Hino regard hydrogen energy as an important form of energy in the future. Since the fuel cell cooperation began in 2003, the two parties have cooperated in the development of many new technologies and new fuel cell vehicles in more than ten years. In the future, Toyota and Hino will further strengthen the partnership and work hard to accelerate the realization of a hydrogen society.