INCOMING CARGO
HINO’S NEW
HORIZON
October was a busy month for Hino Trucks and parent company Toyota, who have released more details of various electric and hydrogen development projects currently on the boil.
Hino XL Series FCEV.
B
ack in March 2020 news broke that Toyota Motor Corporation and Hino Motors Ltd. agreed to jointly develop a heavyduty fuel cell truck, and to proceed with initiatives toward its practical use through verification tests and other means. The two companies declared ambitious goals to reduce CO2 emissions by 2050 and are developing electric vehicle technologies for widespread use. The Hino Environmental Challenge 2050 was established in 2017, of which one part is the New Vehicle Zero CO2 Emissions Challenge, through which Hino aims to cut its average carbon dioxide emissions from new vehicles by 90% (compared with 2013 levels). The heavy-duty fuel cell truck in this joint development project is based on the Hino Profia (700 Series), and is being developed taking maximum advantage of the
technologies both Toyota and Hino have cultivated over the years. The chassis is specially designed with the optimum packaging for a fuel cell vehicle, and steps are being taken through comprehensive weight reduction to ensure a sufficient load capacity. The powertrain is equipped with two Toyota fuel cell stacks that have been newly developed for Toyota’s next Mirai hydrogen fuell cell car, and includes vehicle driving control that applies heavy-duty hybrid vehicle technologies developed by Hino. Cruising range will be set at approximately 600km. Toyota and Hino have now confirmed that real-world verification testing of the heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks will begin in 2022 with a variety of Japanese operators in their logistics operations. This includes Toyota, which will use the vehicle to transport parts between the Toyota plants in Aichi Prefecture and Toyota Tobishima Logistics
Center at Nagoya Port.
North American development On the opposite side of the Pacific, Hino USA has announced ‘Project Z’, the company’s development path to zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) across America’s class 4 to class 8. Hino USA has partnered with technology leaders in advanced electrification drive systems. The ZEV products range from a class 5 SEA Electric SEA-Drive 120a on a Hino M5 (300 Series) chassis, up to a Hino XL Series class 8 tractor powered by Toyota’s Fuel Cell system, as well as a battery electric class 7 tractor with Hexagon Purus’s full electric drive system, and a Hino XL Series class 8 box truck powered by Xos Trucks’ X-Pack battery and electric drive system. For the battery electric vehicles, Hino will look at both central drive motors and e-axles. The companies will leverage the newly developed Hino XL Series chassis with
