The Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) announced the acquisition of 23 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFCEVs), the company’s first purchase of hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Next month, the firm expects to double its fleet of HFCEVs to 50, making SoCalGas one of the nation’s first utilities to begin the shift to hydrogen. These HFCEVs are a critical step toward decarbonizing SoCalGas’ fleet and contribute to the company’s Net Zero 2045 climate objective of replacing 50% of its over-the-road fleet with clean fuel vehicles by 2025 and operating a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2035.
“California companies must work together in the fight against climate change,” said State Senator Susan Rubio. “The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in California and these types of efforts will help the state meet its climate goals.”
“Each vehicle in our light duty over-the-road fleet is driven an average of 10,000 miles per year. The zero-emissions Toyota Mirai HFCEVs have a driving range of 400 miles and since they run on hydrogen the only by-product is water,” said Sandra Hrna, vice president of supply chain and operations support at SoCalGas. “Transitioning some of our fleet to HFCEVs will help us reduce emissions, moving SoCalGas closer to our net zero goal and helping California reach carbon neutrality faster.”
“Longo Toyota is honored to partner with SoCalGas on their strategy to reduce emissions from their vehicle fleet and we are excited to help them with the acquisition of 50 new Toyota Mirai fuel cell electric vehicles,” said Doug Eroh, president and general manager at Longo Toyota. “The Toyota Mirai is fueled with hydrogen and makes its own electricity on board while only emitting clean water from its tailpipe. We look forward to working with SoCalGas in the years to come on the acquisition and service of their clean vehicle fleet.”
The light-duty vehicle sector has begun a transition to zero-emission vehicles, which are now led by battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and supplemented by hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. According to SoCalGas’ newly announced economy-wide technical research, BEVs and HFCEVs could solve distinct use cases in the light-duty vehicle sector. HFCEVs may become cost competitive in the 2020s for cars with greater range requirements or higher utilization requirements, such as taxis, ride-share fleets, or SoCalGas’ own fleet.
Earlier this year, SoCalGas announced plans to deploy its first hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric utility vehicle in conjunction with Hyzon Motors. Hyzon will deliver a Class 3 commercial service body utility vehicle to SoCalGas as part of the cooperation in 2022. The truck is planned to have a top speed of 200 kilowatts and a range of 300 miles. It will be built on the same chassis OEM that SoCalGas now uses, minimizing the requirement for operations, servicing, and training updates.
With the addition of the 50 Toyota Mirai HFCEVs, SoCalGas’ over-the-road fleet now runs on clean fuels to the tune of one-third. The corporation is on track to meet its target of 50% by 2025.
Today, SoCalGas is actively involved in more than ten hydrogen pilot projects, including a collaboration with the Netherlands-based HyET Hydrogen on technology that has the potential to revolutionize hydrogen distribution and enable rapid expansion of hydrogen fueling stations for HFCEVs such as the Toyota Mirai. The technique would enable hydrogen to be transferred simply and economically via the natural gas pipeline system, then extracted and compressed at hydrogen fuelling stations for HFCEVs. The shift to hydrogen is an excellent illustration of how SoCalGas is exhibiting its commitment to being the country’s cleanest, safest, and most creative energy business.
