Australian start-up Hyzon Motors has announced the first locally-designed and built hydrogen-powered truck, which it hopes will help to push the trucking industry towards greener vehicles.
The 27-tonne truck, which the company will unveil at its headquarters in Melbourne, will be able to tow cars and potentially collect garbage later this year.
Electric models currently make up just 10% of new car sales globally, while heavy vehicles have been slower to make the transition to green power.
Hyzon is one of a number of start-ups that believe hydrogen fuel cells are more viable than rechargeable batteries, which are large and heavy and require downtime for recharging.
Trucks produce about 4% of Australia’s carbon emissions, and diesel fumes have been recognised as a carcinogen. Zero-emission trucks cost three times more than diesel alternatives, but Marion Terrill, transport program director at the Grattan Institute, believes that binding sales targets could accelerate their uptake. Germany subsidises 80% of the extra cost for operators that buy zero-emissions trucks.
Hyzon has contracts to deliver prime movers to Coregas in New South Wales and Ark Energy in Queensland and is preparing to break ground on a 10,000 sq m manufacturing facility at its Noble Park site.
The facility will have the capacity to produce 1,000 trucks a year when it opens in 2024. However, John Edgley, Hyzon’s Melbourne-based international president, said that transitioning Australia’s 400,000 heavy vehicles to zero emissions would not happen without government support.
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