Toyota Motor Corp. is transferring ahead with repurposing know-how from its Mirai gas cell passenger sedan to create a hydrogen energy equipment for heavy-duty vans.

The automaker stated Monday the California Air Assets Board granted a Zero Emission Powertrain Government Order for the heavy-duty truck gas cell electrical powertrain. The order certifies a powertrain complies with emissions requirements required on the market in California.

Toyota began experimenting with constructing a hydrogen gas cell Class 8 truck in 2017. It used two gas cell stacks from a Mirai sedan and a cab and chassis constructed by Kenworth to create a prototype truck.

Kenworth and Toyota collectively pushed the know-how ahead, constructing 10 vans to run drayage routes from the ports of Los Angeles and Lengthy Seashore to inland Southern California locations. The exams served as a proof of idea, and Toyota now plans to start assembling new, extra environment friendly gas cell modules for hydrogen-powered, heavy-duty industrial vans at its Kentucky plant later this yr.

Toyota stated the brand new powertrain affords enhancements in power effectivity and packaging dimension over earlier generations.

“We consider hydrogen will play a big function within the emissions discount of professional quality transport whereas not sacrificing the gap, energy or fueling instances wanted to maintain these fleet and particular person operators operating,” stated Chris Rovik, govt program supervisor in Toyota Motor North America’s superior mobiity division.

The hydrogen-fueled powertrain equipment contains hydrogen gas storage tanks, gas cell stacks, batteries, electrical motors and transmission, Toyota stated.

Toyota declined to supply details about clients or pricing besides to notice that the equipment might be eligible for California’s environmental incentives and makes up “one other instrument” for truck producers and fleets to fulfill the state’s more and more stringent emissions rules.

Advocates of gas cell vans say the know-how has a number of benefits over battery electrical vans, that are beginning to roll out in fleets on the West Coast. Hydrogen vans gas shortly and wouldn’t create the delays of lengthy battery charging time for truckers who should adjust to federal limits on the variety of hours they will drive day by day. Gas cell vans additionally do not want the enormous, heavy batteries of an EV truck. In some situations, the additional weight of the battery pack can scale back the quantity of cargo a truck can haul.

“Gas cell know-how is scalable, and we consider it can take an more and more seen and essential function in our collective combat to scale back and remove carbon as we transfer in the direction of a hydrogen society,” Rovik stated.

Toyota is a serious proponent of hydrogen know-how for gas cell and combustion autos. Though the exhaust from gas cells is barely water, combustion engines that burn hydrogen emit nitrogen oxides however no carbon dioxide.

Others truck makers and auto corporations see hydrogen as a promising zero or near-zero tailpipe emissions gas.

Hyundai plans to unveil the manufacturing model of its Xcient gas cell truck for the North American industrial car market on the ACT Expo convention in Anaheim, Calif., Could 1-4.

Hyundai stated the Xcient already has greater than 4 million miles of cumulative driving in industrial operations in Switzerland, New Zealand, Germany, Israel and South Korea. It additionally plans to stipulate its U.S. enterprise technique for the truck on the convention.

In the meantime, Nikola Corp., a Phoenix, Ariz., startup, stated it has orders for 100 Class 8 Tre hydrogen gas cell vans and plans to start deliveries within the fourth quarter of this yr.

Cellcentric, a 50-50 three way partnership between Daimler Truck Group — the proprietor of the Freightliner model — and Volvo Group, can also be growing a gas cell powertrain for heavy-duty vans.

Nevertheless, all of those plans rely upon constructing a hydrogen fueling community within the U.S., particularly alongside main trucking routes. In keeping with the Division of Vitality, there are solely 60 fueling stations, principally in city California.