According to US media reports, Toyota recently launched the second-generation hydrogen fuel cell Class 8 truck at the industry event in North Michigan. The car is a zero-emission semi-trailer truck with more than 300 miles (483 km) after the upgrade of the cruising range.
The car is called Beta inside Toyota and has higher performance than the Alpha truck in the Project Portal project. The latter has been tested and hauled nearly 10,000 miles in Long Beach and Los Angeles ports since its operation in April 2017. More than 200 miles (about 322 kilometers), more than 670 horsepower, 1325 pounds of torque, and can carry up to 80,000 pounds.
The new Beta truck has the same power and weight capacity as the Alpha, but adds a combination of a sleeper cab and fuel tank, thus greatly increasing the interior cabin space without increasing the wheelbase. The car consists of two Mirai fuel cells. Powered by a 12 kWh battery, it also improves other unspecified performance metrics.
The project's chief engineer, Andrew Lund, said at the press conference that by evaluating the first truck at the Los Angeles test facility and on the actual road, the project listed a list of Beta truck build processes and performance improvements to continuously surpass the concept of the first truck. Verify and make it more commercially viable.
Beta demonstrates Toyota's recent efforts to use hydrogen and fuel cells as the latest in automotive power systems. Despite the current challenges in raw materials and lack of infrastructure, most people in the industry are still optimistic about hydrogen fuel vehicles. In addition, some The industry is also skeptical that electric vehicles will become clean energy vehicles in the future.
Toyota is currently improving its next-generation Mirai fuel cell vehicle, which is expected to be launched by 2020, and plans to introduce fuel cell models such as SUVs, pickup trucks and commercial trucks. It is reported that Toyota has also developed fuel cell prototypes for small transport vehicles. Mirai chief engineer Yoshikazu Tanaka said that the company will shift from limited production to mass production, reduce expensive materials such as platinum in FCV components, and make the system more compact and powerful. Toyota hopes to increase Mirai's cruising range from 310 to 466 miles. , increased to 620 miles by 2025.
Last fall Toyota announced plans to build a commercial-scale hydrogen power plant and hydrogen refueling station at the Port of Long Beach, which is expected to go live in 2020.