Innovation & Tech Today – May 2019

24 INNOVATION & TECH TODAY|SUMMER 2019

CONNECTED CAR

HowToyota,Kenworth, and Shell Are Developing Fuel Cell Trucks

By Michael Coates

Theoldjoke(andthefactthatit’sstillaround

saysmorethanyou’dliketoknowaboutit)is

damning.Hydrogen,themoleculethatsupplies

powerforfuelcellvehicles,isthefuelofthe

future– andalwayswillbe!Light-dutyfuelcell

vehiclesarenowdecadesawayfromtheirearly

developmentstageandhavebeensellingin

smallnumbersatretailforseveralyears.The

infrastructuretorefuelthemisslowlygrowing

tosupporttheroughly6,000ontheroadtoday,

almostall– carsandstations– inCalifornia.

Threemodelsareforsale:thenewcompact

crossoverHyundaiNexo,Toyota’sMiraisedan,

andtheHondaClaritysedan.Salesnumbers are

notmovinglikebatteryelectrics.

Withfuelcellpassengervehiclesalesfairly

stagnant,someindustryfolksstartedlookingfor

newopportunities.Logically,thebestplaceto

exploreisanareathoughttobebeyondthe

reachofbatteryelectricvehicles– theheavy-

dutytruckmarket.Thepresumptionwasthat

theseover-the-roadbehemothscouldnotbe

electrified because of the cost and weight of the

amountofbatteriesneededtocreatea

functionaltruck.Toyotashowedtheprototype

Class8 truckrunningonhydrogeninearly 2017

andsparkedsomeinterest.Previously,some

smallercompanieshadeither proposed or

shownsimilarrigs.

Ofcourse,Toyotadoesn’tmakeClass8 trucks,

sotheshowtruckdidn’tseemtohavea home,

eventhoughthetruckappearedtobefunctional

andreadytotakeovera newcategory.Thatwas

untilTeslaunveileditselectricClass8 Semi.

Suddenly,it wasquitecompetitive.

TheToyota,whichwasclearlya debadged

Kenworth,wasbasic.IthadtwoMiraifuelcell

stacksandwhatlookedlikea bluetinhouse

behindthecab,fullofthecryogenictanksused

tostoretheon-boardhydrogen.Itwas

essentiallya proofofconcept.Thekeytakeaway

forthetruckindustrywasthatthetruck

worked;it couldhaula loadinandaroundthe

portsandnotstrainits200-milerange.

Theoverarchingquestionafterwatchingthe

truck in operation was, “Okay, it works, but

wherecanwerefuelit?”So,Toyotanextlaunched

itsProjectPortalprogramtoinitiatetestingofthe

vehicles,whichendedupaccumulating14,000

milesofreal-worlddrayageoperations,working

witha refuelingstationatToyota’sportfacilities.

Whathasn’tbeenspecificallydisclosed,butwill

beobviouswhenyoureadon,wasthatToyota

wasalreadyinconversations with at least one

OEMduringthistime.

Fora commercialvehicle,refuelingisnota

simplequestionoflocatingtheclosesthydrogen

station,although that’s a start. Instead, you’re

asking:

▶ Isthestationonorclosetomytravel route?

▶ Canmyvehiclefitatthestation?

▶Canit refillfastenoughsoI’mnotlosing

time?(i.e.,isit comparableto diesel or even

CNGrefuelingtimes?)

Toyotacamebackrecentlywitha secondor

thirdgenerationofitsfuelcellbigrigandthings

havechanged.Ratherthanlookinglike

something put together in Dr. Emmett Brown’s

TACKLING THE TRUCK

OF THE FUTURE

TACKLING THE TRUCK

OF THE FUTURE