{"id":48260,"date":"2023-04-26T09:03:28","date_gmt":"2023-04-26T13:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=48260"},"modified":"2023-04-26T09:03:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T13:03:28","slug":"toyota-hydrogen-semi-zero-emissions-powertrain-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=48260","title":{"rendered":"Toyota hydrogen semi conversion kit gets green light in California – Autoblog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toyota<\/a> is often pilloried by the press for investing R&D into hydrogen<\/a> instead of going all-in on battery<\/a> electrics. However, their efforts may be paying off. Toyota’s Zero Emissions Powertrain, or ZEP, has just been given the go-ahead for commercialization by the state of California. The kit seeks to swap out diesel<\/a> engines on heavy-duty Class 8 vehicles like semi trucks<\/a> and buses for hydrogen fuel cells<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even the most hardcore evangelists for battery electrics admit that hydrogen fuel cells might make more sense for long-haul trucking. Not only do they allow trucks to refuel faster to maximize all-important uptime, but their lighter weight allows for more payload. A hydrogen fuel cell truck also out-drag races<\/a> a conventional diesel.<\/p>\n

Toyota’s ZEP kit is a hydrogen fuel cell solution that produces electricity and water, not a hydrogen-combustion engine that Toyota has experimented with on some race cars<\/a>. The kit includes hydrogen fuel storage tanks, fuel cell stacks, batteries, electric motors and transmission, and the latest generation<\/a> is more efficient in terms of energy use and packaging than previous iterations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Toyota began testing hydrogen fuel cell trucks at the Port of Long Beach<\/a> near Los Angeles in 2017. At least some of that fuel was supposed to have been generated via cow poop<\/a>. Those first- and second-generation trucks covered 14,000 miles of drayage duty at the second-busiest port in the U.S. First-gen trucks were capable of 200 miles per fill, while second-gen trucks had extended the range<\/a> to 300 miles. Toyota also collaborated with Kenworth<\/a> to build 10 prototype trucks using the Kenworth T680 as a base, hauling cargo from Long Beach to Los Angeles and San Bernadino.<\/p>\n

According to Toyota, truck<\/a> manufacturers using Toyota\u2019s ZEP may also be eligible for other incentives, such as the California Air<\/a> Resource Board’s (CARB) Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP), the Clean Truck Fund (CTF) introduced last year by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and certain federal incentives.<\/p>\n

Now that the ZEP is certified, production is scheduled to begin at Toyota’s Kentucky manufacturing plant.<\/p>\n

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