Toyota to expand hydrogen truck trial

Known as ‘Project Portal’ we first reported on the development of the truck back in April, the latest update from Toyota tells us they now have the vehicle ready to take on real world duties in California.

The truck has already completed more than 4,000 development miles and will now be utilized around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, moving goods between terminals and to surrounding rail yards and warehouses.

In total, the truck will be covering around 300 kilometres per day and Toyota say this will test the drayage duty-cycle capabilities of the fuel cell system while capturing real world performance data.

As the study progresses, longer haul routes are expected to be introduced.

Powered by the same technology that propels the Mirai hydrogen car, the truck version has two fuel cell stacks, rather than the single stack found in the car.

Total output in the heavy-duty application is 500kW and 1800Nm and Toyota tell us the truck has an estimated driving range of more than 320 kilometres per fill, under normal drayage operation.

Emitting nothing but water vapor, Toyota North America Vice President Bob Carter says we could be looking at the future of trucking.

“Toyota has led the way in expanding the understanding and adoption of fuel cell technology,”

“From the introduction of the Mirai passenger vehicle to the creation of the heavy-duty fuel cell system in Project Portal, Toyota continues to demonstrate the versatility and scalability of the zero-emission fuel cell powertrain.”