Will will see Kenworth’s new T680E battery-electric truck or DAF’s XF H2 powered by a hydrogen internal combustion engine at the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show?
The all-new Kenworth K220 will be centre stage at Paccar Australia’s stand at the 2023 Brisbane Truck Show, but attendees may catch the first glimpse of the US company’s expanding range of hydrogen- and battery-electric powered trucks.
Kenworth ZECT and FCEV
North American make Kenworth has also been experimenting with new propulsion technologies.
Parent company PACCAR teamed up with Toyota a few years ago to develop and trial the Kenworth ZECT and the FCEV, two zero-emissions T680 trucks that are powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
Kenworth became the first company to scale Pikes Peak in Colorado with a fuel cell truck. The Kenworth T680 FCEV, which features a Toyota hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrain offering 470hp, has a claimed range of 560km and a 15-minute refuel time.
Could we see similar technology from Kenworth here in Australia soon?
Most recently, Kenworth has also moved into battery-electric truck production, unveiling its zero-emissions Kenworth T680E battery-electric vehicle at the Las Vegas CES 2022 show.
It’s the company’s first heavy-duty battery-electric truck and features a 396kWh battery. Its Meritor 14Xe powertrain pushes out 536hp, has a reported range of 241km and a claimed charging time of three hours.
Hydrogen For DAF
Powered by a hydrogen internal combustion engine, the DAF XF H2 Innovation Truck was recently unveiled and subsequently won the ‘Truck Innovation Award 2022’ at the Solutrans Truck & Transport Exhibition in France.
While many of the big car and truck OEMs are developing hydrogen fuel cell technology, DAF has taken a different route, developing instead an internal combustion engine that runs on hydrogen.
DAF believes a ‘green’ hydrogen combustion engine eliminates the need for large energy storage systems as well as the lower cooling capabilities needed and lower sensitivity to hydrogen purity.
However, using hydrogen to fuel trucks also means that in many areas, we can make use of existing fuel distribution networks, an interesting prospect for Australia.
“H2 internal combustion engines means that in many areas, use can be made of an existing distribution network of fuel stations.
“Hydrogen technology may become a very interesting option for the future, next to battery-electric solutions which we already offer today and hybrid trucks which we have under development,” DAF Executive Director of Product Development Ron Borsboom says.
“Being honoured with the ‘Truck Innovation Award 2022’ also demonstrates that there is still a promising future for the internal combustion engine for which new generations of carbon-neutral fuels are on the horizon.
“It is important to understand that bringing an end to the use of fossil fuels should by no means automatically result in a ban on internal combustion engines, especially in the heavy-duty long-haul transport segment.”
Location: Stand 40, Hall 4
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