Hino to take part in California port hydrogen fuel demonstration

The company announced that it was awarded a NEDO grant for promoting the technology.

Hino USA has announced that it is the recipient of a grant from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), an agency of the Japanese government, for the purpose of promoting hydrogen fuel cell technology for the energy and environmental sector.

The grant was awarded to the company for clean energy tech demos along with Hino Motors, Ltd.

More specifically, the NEDO grant is intended to support the demonstration of the Hino Class 8 hydrogen trucks, which are powered by hydrogen fuel cells, in use in real world applications at Californian ports. The joint study will be conducted through March 2026. It is a component of a collaboration project with Hino, Toyota Tsusho America Inc., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Mitsui E&S Machinery Co. Ltd. and PACECO CORP.

The purpose of the NEDO grant is to use the zero-emission truck technology to be able to improve air quality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle exhaust. That goal is expected to be a helpful part of decarbonizing port operations and helping to reduce air quality problems in communities that are already burdened with environmental disadvantages. The grant’s funding is provided to support and encourage the introduction of new zero-emission tech.

The companies have opted to focus specifically on hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks for the project.

Hino, Mitsui, and Toyota-Tsusho are focused on advanced H2-powered truck technology for the purposes of this project. Together, their teams intend to demonstrate how these vehicles operate using zero-emission H2 power units throughout typical daily drayage operations both within and around the area of the Californian ports.

For the purposes of this demonstration, Hino has announced that it will be providing a number of its Class 8 Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) prototypes which it unveiled in August 2021 at the ACT Expo. Those FCEVs were developed in a collaboration with Toyota.

The grant program also includes the monitoring and analysis of data relevant to the vehicle operations and maintenance intervals. This will make it possible for Hino and its partners to further optimize the safety and efficiency of the hydrogen fuel vehicles.

Hino views this project as a solid contributor to its “Challenge 2025” strategy, with the goal of reducing the company’s global emissions footprint by decreased greenhouse gas emissions.