Fuel cell electric truck project progresses

The Kenworth T680 Class 8 model truck is combined with Toyota’s fuel cell electric technology and is part of the California Air Resources Board (CARB)-funded Zero and Near-Zero Emissions Freight Facilities Project (ZANZEFF) project. Pioneered by the Port of Los Angeles with support from Toyota, Kenworth, and Shell, the initiative provides a large-scale “Shore-to-Store” plan and a hydrogen fuel-cell-electric technology framework for freight facilities. The initiative will help reduce emissions by over 500t of Greenhouse Gas and 0.72 weighted tons of NOx, ROG and PM10.

“CARB’s $41 million grant was instrumental in launching this project and putting this innovative technology into our rigorous environment,” said Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka. “We’re extremely proud of our role as a leading test lab for emerging green technology, helping to pave the way for next-generation, zero-emission technology.”

10 trucks

Drayage operations for the first ZANZEFF truck will begin in the fourth quarter of 2019. A total of 10 trucks will be deployed as part of the ZANZEFF project, hauling cargo received at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach throughout the Los Angeles area, the Inland Empire, the Port of Hueneme, and eventually to Merced.

The truck expands on the capabilities of Toyota’s first two Project Portal proof of concept trucks. Since operations began in April 2017, the Project Portal “Alpha” and “Beta” Class 8 trucks have logged more than 14,000 miles of testing and real-world drayage operations in and around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach while emitting only water vapour.

Two new large capacity heavy-duty hydrogen fuelling stations will be developed by Shell in Wilmington and Ontario, California. The two new stations will join three additional stations located at Toyota’s Long Beach Logistics Services and Gardena R&D facilities to form an integrated, five-station heavy-duty hydrogen fuelling network for the Los Angeles basin.