POWERTRAIN
CALIFORNIA DREAMING
California’s unique geography has meant that it’s often been a hostage to smog. Could fuel cell technology be the answer?
T
oyota, Kenworth, the Port of Los Angeles and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have teamed
up for an ambitious trial featuring trucks powered by fuel cells. The vehicle is a Kenworth Class 8 model with twin Toyota T680 fuel cells mounted under the cab floor. The power electronics units that control it are mounted toward the front, with the battery pack and hydrogen storage behind, leading to the motor, transmission then on to the rear wheels.
Everything is designed to be packaged within the conventional chassis. Ten of these will go into use, the first
has already been delivered. It’s all part of CARB’s US$41 million Zero-and- Near-Zero Emission Freight Facilities Project (ZANZEFF), which moves freight around the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, across the LA basin. The trucks will be operated by Toyota Logistics Services (4), United Parcel Services (3), Total Transportation Services (2) and Southern Counties Express (1).
Altogether there are some 16,000
trucks working around the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complexes, which is North America’s largest gateway for containerised cargo. That number is estimated to grow to 32,000 by 2030. Currently, more than 43,000 drayage trucks are in operation at ports across the USA. To overcome the issue of storage and
These trucks are using Neste MY Renewable Diesel, made from raw materials such as waste products and industrial residues. The company has worked out (based on LCFS carbon intensity calculation methodology) it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%
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hydrogen production, a tri-gen plant is scheduled for completion in 2020. It uses a carbonate fuel cell stack to convert bio-waste (from biogas) to hydrogen, then to electricity. It will also use some of the hydrogen created in the process to refuel the fuel cell vehicles. Russ Koble from Toyota Motor
North America explains, “Hydrogen is produced in a tri-gen system through a steam reforming process, but the
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