Who does not love a good drag race.

The article states they are towing 35,000 pounds but the caption on the video states 35,000 GVW which stands for gross vehicle weight. I do not know.

But the acceleration is quite impressive.


Drag races are fun, especially if it’s Toyota’s fuel cell semi versus a conventional diesel truck.

As you’ll see in the video below, it’s really no contest between Toyota’s concept truck, dubbed Project Portal, and an unnamed hauler, both of which are towing 35,000 pounds.


If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the diesel truck lugging along and changing gears as Project Portal, sans transmission, quickly and more quietly puts its 670-hp hydrogen fuel cell to work. Torque is rated at 1,325 foot pounds.

While specs aren’t given on Toyota’s competition, it’s still an impressive display of an advanced engine, albeit one not easily refueled given the absence of hydrogen infrastructure–a reality made even grimmer by the fact that the truck has an estimated range of only 200 miles.

Still, you have to start somewhere and Toyota is starting big. Completely aware of the vast trucking market in Southern California, the automaker will be putting Project Portal to work at the Port of Los Angeles later this summer and is currently working with the State of California to expand hydrogen fuel stations.

It’s interesting to note how Toyota jumped from its small fuel cell Mirai sedan to a Class 8 fuel cell semi, which consequently, is powered by two Mirai hydrogen fuel cell stacks and a small 12-kwh battery.

It brings to mind an important point made a few years ago by former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, one of the major players behind the Chevy Volt. Lutz said in an interview with The Seattle Times that OEM vehicle electrification efforts should have begun with fuel-guzzling trucks–not small sedans.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od81_2mglRE

Torque for the win! Interesting technology.

They aren't the only.

https://nikolamotor.com/one

I would think CNG fuel cells might be attractive in some markets that have existing CNG refuel facilities.

Riiiiiiigggggghhhhhhttttttttt

next will be chainsaw comparison's.

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:
They aren't the only.

https://nikolamotor.com/one

I would think CNG fuel cells might be attractive in some markets that have existing CNG refuel facilities.

Thanks for this info.

That's neat, but I would think they could easily do the same thing with diesel generators, like locomotives. Sure, hydrogen burns cleaner; but the logistics of hydrogen are awful and there really isn't a good source of hydrogen that I'm aware of. We can split water, but that process takes more energy than it produces. We already have so many issues with access to clean water for drinking I think anything that potentially screws with that is an awful idea.

Totally useless comparison. So the Toyota would lose a 201 mile drag race.

Since the average class 8 truck drives 500-600 miles a day, the Toyota driver would spend a good part of his day fueling or looking for fuel. Let's face it, there is no fuel source as energy dense as diesel for this type of application. It is why jet planes still run on diesel No1, and there are no plans for an electric jet. Plans to make a purely electric truck, either with batteries or fuel cells, will fail due to the inability of alternate energy sources to transport enough energy for the weight or bulk.

I think we all agree that this is not practical now.

They experiment, they tinker, they tweak. Who knows what they may discover or what development may overtake us? Maybe this becomes useful for local delivery?

I am sure many of the same objections were made about internal combustion at first. Where will you buy the stuff? Too dangerous? We keep trying. Some tech works, other does not.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
. We can split water, but that process takes more energy than it produces. We already have so many issues with access to clean water for drinking I think anything that potentially screws with that is an awful idea.

Could be a good application for solar and seawater. Lots of salt byproduct, but we could probably find a use for it.

quote:

I am sure many of the same objections were made about internal combustion at first. Where will you buy the stuff? Too dangerous? We keep trying. Some tech works, other does not.

In the early days of gasoline engines the competition called them Explosion Machines, using fear of having gasoline explode hundreds of times right under the customers feet. This of course from Steam powered vehicle dealers.

First came the car, fuel distribution locally, then local roads, then highways, technology moves fast these days, if we could get off oil and gas and move heavy freight through a fuel cell it would be cleaner,

Trains already run diesels to run the electric engines that drive the train, a move to CNG Fuel cells could help reduce transport costs.

Honda is now selling the Clarity a fuel cell car in SoCal only, lease only, and you have to live near refilling stations.

Link

quote:

Originally posted by ontmark:
It brings to mind an important point made a few years ago by former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, one of the major players behind the Chevy Volt. Lutz said in an interview with The Seattle Times that OEM vehicle electrification efforts should have begun with fuel-guzzling trucks–not small sedans.

Trucking companies aren't willing to subsidize pie in the sky R&D the way tree huggers & asshole politicians are.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
That's neat, but I would think they could easily do the same thing with diesel generators, like locomotives. Sure, hydrogen burns cleaner; but the logistics of hydrogen are awful and there really isn't a good source of hydrogen that I'm aware of. We can split water, but that process takes more energy than it produces. We already have so many issues with access to clean water for drinking I think anything that potentially screws with that is an awful idea.

Hence the CNG fuel cell. Lots of local fleets (busses, UPS, trash trucks, etc) are running CNG as is now. The fueling infrastructure for those fleets already exists. Stop and go driving (like those fleets) is the ideal for regenerative braking, which improves overall range.

And CNG is generally cheaper than diesel, a factor already in play with existing fuel conversions.

The Nikola truck tractor I linked to, while hydrogen, is 800-1200 mile range.

http://www.triplepundit.com/20...acy-company-startup/

Other efforts. https://www.trucks.com/2017/02...-trucks-wrightspeed/