Hyzon Motors Inc. announced the delivery of 29 fuel cell electric vehicles to Shanghai Hydrogen HongYun Automotive Co. (“HongYun”).
The trucks will be employed by a major steel group in China.
The 49-ton trucks, arrived in November, are equipped with a 170-kilowatt fuel cell stack and are anticipated to begin hauling steel coils for the conglomerate’s fleet in the coming months. HongYun intends to offer operating, leasing, and maintenance services to industrial and municipal customers in certain places throughout China, which is predicted to be a large market for fuel cell technologies in the future years. Hongyun has finalized additional orders with Hyzon for 33 additional trucks.
Each 49-ton heavy truck is intended to eliminate around 140 tons of CO2 emissions each year; during the duration of the vehicles’ expected seven-year life, the initial order of trucks is predicted to eliminate more than 30,000 tons of CO2.
“Hyzon’s focus is on decarbonizing heavy transport – today,” said Hyzon CEO Craig Knight. “We expect that this initial order will make an immediate environmental impact, while also providing Hyzon the opportunity to continue enhancing capacity and expertise for future deployments across the globe. The steel industry is under intense scrutiny regarding their emissions, both manufacturing operations as well as logistics activities; we are here to take logistics out of that equation.”
Hydrogen is converted to electricity in a tailpipe-free fuel cell and powers the vehicle via fuel cells that are compact, powerful, and especially designed for long haul and high utilization back-to-base travel. Hydrogen fuel tanks can be refilled in 15 minutes, about as quickly as diesel fuel tanks, which is a significant advantage over battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which normally require several hours to recharge. Indeed, the US Clean Air Task Force predicts that the number of truck stops in the United States would need to be increased eightfold if all heavy vehicles in the country switched to BEVs, whereas existing infrastructure would suffice if trucks ran on hydrogen.
