Kenworth Truck and Toyota Motor North America are continuing their collaboration to develop 10 zero-emission Kenworth T680s powered by Toyota hydrogen fuel cell-electric powertrains.
So far, the Kenworth assembly plant in Renton, Washington, has produced four of the trucks and a fifth truck is now in production, said Kevin Baney, KW’s general manager.
The T680s will be used as drayage tractors out of the Port of Los Angeles, and for freight delivery in the Los Angeles region. The effort is part of a $41 million Zero and Near-Zero Emissions Freight Facilities (ZANZEFF) grant awarded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), with the Port of LA as the prime applicant.
“The Port of Los Angeles, Kenworth, Toyota, and Shell are working together to foster the development of hydrogen fuel cell-electric technology in Class 8 trucks, producing water as the only emissions byproduct, while meeting or exceeding diesel truck performance,” said Baney.
Patrick Dean, chief engineer, said Kenworth provides the T680 chassis and cab, motors, transmission, and cooling systems, and delivers overall FCEV integration. Toyota provides fuel cell stacks, hydrogen tanks, load balancing batteries, and other components necessary to deliver the high voltage to the motors, in addition to the controls for that power.
The fuel cells combine hydrogen gas and air to produce electricity that powers electric motors to move the trucks, while also charging the lithium-ion batteries to optimize performance as needed, Dean explained. Sophisticated power management systems will apportion the electrical power from the fuel cells to the motors, batteries, and other components, such as electrified power steering and brake air compressors.
“Ensuring a great driver experience also has been a focus. Extensive performance testing and calibration work at both the Paccar Technical Center in Mount Vernon, Washington, and at the Toyota Arizona Proving Grounds will give drivers of this advanced FCEV powertrain optimal performance in the primary targeted port drayage application,” he said.
The program’s first FCEV to enter real-world service will go to Toyota Logistics Services by year-end for operation at the Los Angeles ports. The full contingent of 10 FCEVs is expected to enter operation in the ports and Los Angeles Basin in 2020, and will be placed into service by Toyota Logistics, UPS, TTSI, and Southern Counties Express.
“We’re very excited about the collaboration with Toyota and we see many areas of complementary expertise. This joint effort is leading the industry in proving the feasibility of all aspects of hydrogen fuel cell powertrains applied to heavy duty Class 8 trucks,” said Dean. To meet customer needs in these drayage, car-carrier and local-haul applications, the vehicles will have ranges of over 300 miles under normal operating conditions.
Under Paccar ownership, Kenworth has the lead in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and sister company Peterbilt has the lead in battery electric vehicles. All technology development and products will be shared among Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF, Paccar’s Holland-based builder.
At this week’s North American Commercial Vehicle Show, Kenworth will display a fuel cell electric vehicle in its booth (#7717), and Peterbilt will show three battery-electric vehicles in its booth (#6045).
