Toyota is going big on fuel cells.
Its latest effort expands on the Mirai sedan by converting semitrucks to hydrogen fuel-cell power.
The company has been testing a fuel-cell powered semi for more than a year at the Port of Long Beach, California, ferrying goods from the Toyota Logistics facility to distribution points headed for factories and other facilities throughout the U.S.
READ THIS: Toyota 'Project Portal' hydrogen fuel-cell heavy-duty semi tractor as proof of concept
The first truck covered 10,000 miles of zero-emissions driving throughout L.A. in a proof-of-concept operation in Toyota's Project Portal.
Now the company has created a second truck that it says will be more commercially viable.
The first truck, "Project Alpha," had a range of 200 miles. Giant hydrogen tanks stood where a sleeper cab would normally go.
Toyota Project Portal 2.0 fuel cell-powered semi-trailer truck
The new model, "Project Beta," has a range of 300 miles and leaves room for a small sleeper behind the cab without increasing the truck's wheelbase, Toyota says.
Both trucks parallel two fuel-cell stacks from the Toyota Mirai fuel-cell car, to produce 670 horsepower and 1,325 foot-pounds of torque. They use a 12-kwh battery to buffer power.
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The projects are part of Toyota's commitment to eliminate CO2 emissions from its logistics facility in the Port of Long Beach. The company is building a combined power facility to produce hydrogen, water, and a megawatt of electricity at the port from agricultural wastes.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are a primary focus of California's efforts to clean up its air. About 40 percent of all imports and exports traveling to and from the U.S. come through the ports, creating a concentration of diesel trucks that has been linked to poor health in the area.
California is expanding efforts to replace those trucks with zero-emissions battery-electric and fuel-cell replacements.
