in Switzerland for since 2020 have now logged more than five million combined kilometres,which is probably getting close to six million kilometres now, The NZ national heavy vehicle fleet currently accounts for four per cent of the total Kiwi vehicle fleet, but produces 25 per cent of the transport emissions. For every Hydrogen fuel cell powered Xcient put on the road in NZ, covering around 200,000 kilometres a year, it represents the equivalent C02 output of about 100 passenger cars, based on New Zealand stats, so it can make a big difference with every truck. Whether you agree or disagree with climate change, it can’t be a bad thing to reduce the air pollution and smog in our big cities and to start using more renewable resources. Clearly, while Hyundai is a Korean truck, the Xcient feels like a very European vehicle, particularly the Hydrogen fuel cell versions being put into action in Kiwiland, and if NZ and Australia is going to make it easier to take advantage of these new technology vehicles, then we have to have rules and regulations that make it easier to do it. For instance with these fuel cell trucks, all the configurations are for a European market, so everything from the way they configure the axles, to the way they set the truck up, and the width is aligned to Euro rules, so for us to take advantage of these new technologies our regulations need to be more accepting of the product configurations coming out of Europe. The belief in NZ is that by the middle of
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this decade there will be a solid program for FCEV products and that they’re going to be the default go to power technology by the end of the decade. When you start thinking about truck builds, production scheduling and body builds, customers will be ordering trucks and signing up to these in 2024, for 2025/ 2026 delivery, so that time will rush up on us. The Hyundai system is a fuel cell dominant system and in the Xcient uses two fuel cells with both supplying direct energy to the electric motor. It uses its battery at times in the drive mode, as a booster, so it might be a hillclimb, or on initial acceleration, but the battery is effectively there to catch recuperated energy on hill descents and under brakes, and it’s for supplying spontaneous energy on demand. The Hyundais undergoing prep work in Auckland are equipped with type four carbon kevlar tanks, which are polymer lined and meet very high safety standards. The four tanks in this particular Xcient hold about 32 kilograms of hydrogen stored under pressure at 350 bar, enough to give the truck a range of 400km between refuels. The battery is a 72 kilowatt hour 661 volt pack comprising three 24 kWh batteries, the same as used in Hyundai’s electric passenger cars, which reflects the economies of scale that could be achieved from manufacturers sharing components across their ranges, from the smallest cars to the largest trucks, with modularity being the key word. You can
see that with Toyota and its Mirai fuel cell, which has been used in everything from small passenger cars to the buses servicing the Tokyo Olympics and even Paccar trucks at the Port of Long Beach in California. The Xcient uses a 180kW fuel cell stack made up of two 90kW fuel cells, again underlining that modularity concept and the fact that the same fuel cells could be seen in Hyundai passenger cars, small commercial vans, light and medium duty trucks and even larger prime movers. The fuel cell powers up the centrally mounted 350kW/2237Nm electric motor, which is coupled to a six-speed Alison automatic transmission. The Hydrogen Xcient runs three separate and distinct cooling systems, with one for the fuel cells, another cooling system for the battery, and a third cooling system that runs the sub-assemblies. With heat and water being the only emissions from the production of electricity then cooling is vital in the efficient and reliable running of the truck. Naturally, electricity runs all of the sub systems, with electric pumps pressurizing the hydraulic systems, as well as running power steering, the air conditioning system and any other components that may have been run off a belt drive on an internal combustion engine machine. All in all you have to take your hat off to the Kiwis and in particular Hyundai NZ for such a pioneering effort, becoming only the third country behind Korea and Switzerland to put these zero emission trucks into operation.
The team Australia trusts.
When you’re running a trucking business, or you’re out on the road, trust is everything. You need a team behind you that you can rely on - people you know are always on your side. At UD Trucks, we have one of the widest networks of sales and service experts dedicated to your success. From local dealership managers to finance specialists, from performance specialists to truck technicians, our people take the time to get to know your business, and they work with you like they’re part of the team.
Going the Extra Mile To find out more, contact your UD Trucks dealer on 1300 BUY A UD or visit udtrucks.com/australia
