First hydrogen truck from Toyota & VDL starts street testing
Toyota and VDL have presented the first fuel cell truck from VDL with Toyota technology as part of their cooperation concluded in May. The prototype is now being used and tested in Toyota logistics. The aim is to evaluate and continuously improve it in order to be able to expand the project.
The VDL Group is already preparing four more fuel cell trucks to be used by Toyota logistics service providers VOS Transport Group, CEVA, Groupe CAT and Yusen. These transport companies will use the hydrogen trucks on their daily logistics routes between Cologne, Antwerp (Belgium), Lille (France) and Amsterdam and Rotterdam (both Netherlands). There will be at least one hydrogen filling station along each of the routes – including back-up solutions for unexpected incidents.
“The cooperation of all participants should deepen the knowledge about the use of fuel cell trucks on public roads and contribute to the ecological energy transition in Europe. The five-year field trial will drive the development of a sustainable hydrogen infrastructure in Europe, leading to more CO2-neutral mobility solutions,” says Toyota’s European headquarters.
With the handover of the first prototype now completed, the two cooperation partners are on schedule so far. In May, the two companies had announced that they would put their first H2 truck with a retrofitted fuel cell module from Toyota on the road this summer and that more vehicles would follow in the autumn.
Toyota has still not provided any technical data on the VDL hydrogen truck. Toyota’s well-known fuel cell module for third-party customers is available in two versions for vertical or horizontal installation – depending on the available installation space. The modules are each available with a rated output of 60 or 80 kW and are intended to cover a voltage range of 400 to 750 volts. For the power requirements of a truck, two of these modules are probably installed. However, no data is known about the electric drive, the buffer battery and the H2 tanks. The published press photos only show that the cylindrical hydrogen tanks are stacked behind the driver’s cab – as is usual for most H2 trucks.
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