Toyota Motor Corp. announced plans to develop a hydrogen fuel cell-powered truck for the North American market with its subsidiary Hino Motors Ltd.
According to the Japanese vehicle manufacturer’s Monday press release, The Class 8 trucks will be based on the recently introduced XL series chassis from Hino and use a zero-emission fuel cell technology from Toyota. The automaker said it would debut a prototype in the first half of 2021. This expands on a March agreement to develop a 25-ton fuel cell semi for the Japanese market.
"Toyota’s 20-plus years of fuel-cell technology combined with Hino’s heavy-duty truck experience will create an innovative and capable product,” Tak Yokoo, Senior Executive Engineer at Toyota’s R&D unit, said in the statement.
Toyota has been involved in a pilot project to test fuel cell trucks at the Port of Los Angeles since 2017. Fuel cells convert hydrogen gas and oxygen into electricity, which powers an electric motor with zero harmful emissions and only emits water vapor.
