Toyota has taken the biggest leap toward the future of zero-emission trucking with the new “Beta” version of the Project Portal truck.
One of the greatest challenges of both saving the environment and bringing the materials to the destination desired is building the vehicle that can do the job. With the long charging times of electric vehicles, it seems that it will be nearly impossible to keep the number of trucks on the road that need to be there. In order to offer a big truck that can help save the environment without emissions and still offer the power needed to get the job done, it needs to be able to refuel quickly in order to be useful.
Continuing the Hydrogen Movement at Toyota
This new Class 8 truck is one that can drive more than 300 miles on a single full tank of gas and the only emissions that it expels are water vapor. This new truck was shown off at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing in Northern Michigan recently. As a step in the right direction, this truck absolutely showed that it could be the right one for the future.
In addition to offering more miles per fill than the “Alpha” version of the Project Portal Toyota truck, this new version brings enhanced versatility and maneuverability along with a sleeper cab and a fuel cabin that increases the cab space without increasing the wheelbase. The Project Portal “Alpha” truck has logged over 10,000 miles since it was put on the roads in April 2017. This truck has been making runs in and around the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The new “Beta” version is scheduled to begin operations in the fall to increase the Ports’ zero emission trucking capabilities.
Making the Improvements for a Zero-Emission Truck
The benefits of testing these Project Portal trucks is the opportunity to learn from what the first one lacked in order to make the improvements needed. The Project Portal truck is one that offers a combined weight capacity of 80,000 pounds, a driving range of over 200 miles per fill, a 670 horsepower drivetrain, and 1325 lb.-ft. of torque. The power comes from two Mirai fuel cell stacks and a 12 kWh battery. The Beta version maintains these power numbers while increasing the driving range and adding other qualities to improve the performance metrics needed.
Replacing the Fleet
If Toyota is successful in moving the trucking world from the pollution-heavy models to the zero-emission Project Portal versions it will make a significant impact on the air quality around the country. More than 43,0000 drayage trucks are operated around the US at the various ports. Right now, over 16,000 of these trucks are at work in the two ports that are beginning to use the Project Portal trucks. Changing from trucks that pollute to those that are clean and offer zero-emissions could make a huge difference. Toyota is on the job and continues to improve the Project Portal program to make it possible to have clean trucks for the future.
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