Toyota and its subsidiary Hino have agreed to jointly develop a Class 8 fuel cell electric truck (FCET) for the North American market. Motivated by the rapidly expanding interest in heavy-duty electric trucks, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) and Hino USA will fit the newly developed Hino XL Series chassis with Toyota’s fuel cell technology “to deliver exceptional capability without harmful emissions.”
This collaboration expands upon the
existing effort announced earlier this year to develop a 25-ton FCET for the
Japanese market. Toyota and Hino expect the first demonstration vehicle for
North America to arrive in the first half of 2021.
For the time being, the two companies did
not release additional details about their Class 8 fuel cell electric truck for
North America. It remains to be seen how similar the technology will be to
their joint FCET for Japan.
Based on the Hino Profia conventional
truck, the Japanese market model will use the same fuel cells as the all-new
2021 Toyota Mirai. The truck will also be equipped with an electric motor, a
lithium-ion battery pack and a “large capacity” hydrogen storage tank, a setup
that should give the truck a range of approximately 600 km per
tank.
