Less than a year ago, Hino Trucks announced that it was building a Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric truck.
The company made good on this promise with the reveal of its first Class 8 Hino XL8 prototype powered by a hydrogen fuel cell electric drivetrain, at the 2021 ACT Expo in Long Beach, California.
“It’s amazing what our team has been able to accomplish in a relative short period of time. I know our customers are going to be extremely impressed with this fuel cell electric truck,” said Glenn Ellis, Senior Vice President Customer Experience, Hino Trucks.
XL Series chassis
“We are looking forward to validating the performance, reliability and efficiency of our hydrogen fuel cell electric system in the XL Series chassis,” continued Glenn Ellis.
“From our Project Z announcement last October, we have received significant interest from customers, and now we have something tangible to show them in our prototype FCEV” stated Bob Petz, Senior Vice President of Vehicle and Parts Sales, Hino Trucks.
Commercial customers who are interested in learning more about the hydrogen fuel cell electric Hino XL8 will get a chance to see it in person at this year’s ACT Expo in Long Beach, CA from August 31st and September 1st.
Partnership with Allison Transmission
On a separate note, Hino has also selected Allison Transmission, a leading designer and manufacturer of conventional, electric hybrid and fully electric vehicle propulsion solutions, as its e-Axle development partner for Class 6, 7 and 8 Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) trucks.
The two companies have signed the framework behind a comprehensive strategic Joint Collaboration Agreement (JCA) that builds on the long-standing partnership Allison and Hino share in the conventional transmission space.
Through this agreement, Hino will integrate Allison’s eGen Power 100D e-Axle into their vehicles as the two companies collaborate to build out a truly differentiated product for end users, with start of low volume production intended in early 2023.
Hino Project Z
Hino announced Project Z in October 2020 and has continued collaborating with Allison since then in designing BEV solutions tailored for the North America Medium and Heavy Duty commercial vehicle markets.
As part of the work being undertaken with Hino and other development partner-customers, Allison launched a new e-Axle product that will be added to the eGen Power family – the eGen Power 100S.
