Via GCC:
Toyota North America unveils hydrogen-fuel-cell heavy-duty truck proof-of-concept; twin Mirai fuel cell stacks
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/04/20170419-toyota.htmlToyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA) revealed “Project Portal”—a hydrogen fuel cell system designed for heavy-duty trucks applied in a Class 8 truck for use at the Port of Los Angeles (POLA).
Announced at a press conference with Port officials and representatives from California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC), the zero-emission truck proof-of-concept will take part in a feasibility study examining the potential of fuel cell technology in heavy duty applications. The study will begin this summer and contribute to the Port’s Clean Air Action Plan, which has significantly reduced harmful emissions from operations at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles since 2005. . . .
The Project Portal platform is designed to provide the target performance required to support port drayage operations. The truck generates more than 670 hp and 1325 lb-ft (1796 N·m) of torque from two Mirai fuel cell stacks and a 12 kWh battery—a relatively small battery to support Class-8 load operations. . . .
The concept’s gross combined weight capacity is 80,000 lbs., and its estimated driving range is more than 200 miles per fill, under normal drayage operation. . . .
These are intended to be used hauling between the port and warehouses etc. up to 70 miles away, i.e. pretty much the entire L.A. basin (SCAQMD).
Article covering the same announcement at IEVS:
http://insideevs.com/toyota-hydrogen-semi/. . . Craig Scott (yes, that Craig Scott) told InsideEVs that Project Portal is starting at the ports because it was in Toyota’s back yard and, “It makes the problem glaringly obvious. The port is a really big problem, from an emissions point of view. We think there’s a need for it here.”
While there are hydrogen refueling stations in Long Beach, it’s not feasible to refuel the truck there (“we would probably take the station down with the amount of hydrogen we’d use,” Scott said). That’s why Toyota is installing a temporary station down near the dock for the truck.
“One truck holds 10 times more fuel than one Mirai,” he said. “So now you’re talking about 10 trucks easily using a ton of hydrogen in a day, whereas that same volume of hydrogen would probably take a month in a car. There hasn’t been cost reduction on the molecule side fast enough.” By molecule side, Scott means the hydrogen supply, and he said that Project Portal has a complementary goal of reducing H2 refueling costs. “The price [of hydrogen] today is too expensive, and it needs to come down drastically. That can be accomplished, in large part, by pulling more hydrogen through the system, and we’ll pull a lot more hydrogen through the system a lot faster in a heavy duty environment than we would in a light-duty environment. . . .”
