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Manufacturer Hyzon Motors plans to ramp up testing of its new 200-kilowatt fuel cell system this summer in preparation for the start of production in the second half of 2024, CEO Parker Meeks said. earnings call Last week.
The company expects the tests to help scale up orders by demonstrating the potential of hydrogen trucks. The newest system, an upgrade from an earlier version, aims to deliver the same power that fleets expect from diesel enginesthe company previously noted.
Hyzon is set to test its technology with 24 fleets from early summer through January 2025, Meeks told Trucking Dive in an interview.
Hydrogen-powered trucks using Hyzon’s older 110-kilowatt fuel system have been delivered to customers such as Performance Food Groupwhich claimed a range of up to 350 miles with a 15-minute refueling time.
“These were great 110-kilowatt trucks for customers to get early experience with,” Meeks told Trucking Dive. “But the scale will only be done at 200 [kilowatt]. This is the truck that has all the power that Class 8 trucks need.”
The upgraded system features a combination that other OEMs have avoided, according to a Hyzon exhibition last year. Instead of combining two smaller fuel systems, the company has developed efficiencies through a single-stack system with reduced weight and better fuel mileage, the company said.
The BolingbrookIllinois-seat company built the upgraded fuel cell system into its own Bolingbrook facility and launched it in Melbourne, Australia in Q1.
The company expected to develop the newest fuel systems in cabover vehicles in Australia and New Zealand, as well as conventional vehicles in the US this year.
Inside this ramp, Hyzon meets the challenges. Three heavy-duty hydrogen fueling stations in California remain closed, Meeks noted on the May 13 first-quarter earnings call.
But Hyzon works with fueling partners to provide mobile fueling stations where needed, Meeks told Trucking Dive.
The company is currently targeting fleets of trucks that make deliveries and then return home to refuel with hydrogen. “We don’t wait at public stations to get on the scale,” he said. “It’s back to base, on the ground.”