Dutch facility to build 1,500 hydrogen fuel-cell heavy-duty trucks
Hyzon Motors and Hiringa Energy are advancing their partnership with an electric heavy-duty fleet deal for New Zealand.
The pair reveals Hyzon has agreed to supply 1,500 Dutch-built hydrogen fuel-cell-powered ‘heavy goods vehicles’ to the NZ company by 2026, with the first batch to arrive at the end of this year.
“We see New Zealand as an attractive market for the deployment of our hydrogen fuel cell technology,” Hyzon Motors CEO Craig Knight says.
“The hydrogen supply network designed by Hiringa is a key enabler for the realisation of our decarbonisation strategy.
“This partnership aims to position New Zealand as a global leader in the adoption of zero emission heavy vehicle technology, and we are pleased to be playing a major role in this transition.”
The vehicles are to be assembled at Hyzon’s facility in Winschoten, The Netherlands, “in full compliance with local New Zealand requirements”, they say.
The vehicle supply agreement builds on the signing of a Heads of Agreement between the two companies in August.
Read how Hyzon and Hiringa first came together, here
Hyzon’s fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are to be powered by green hydrogen supplied through Hiringa’s nationwide refuelling infrastructure.
The latter says the network is on track to commence refuelling operations in 2021, expanding to eight hydrogen stations across New Zealand’s North and South Islands in 2022, servicing 100 per cent of the North Island and 82 per centof the South Island’s heavy freight routes.
“This order is a significant milestone and the culmination of many hours of work from the Hyzon and Hiringa teams,” Hiringa chair Cathy Clennett says.
“We are very excited to have New Zealand road compliant heavy trucks capable of meeting New Zealand’s transport needs arriving in country this year.
“This is a key step to decarbonizing our road transport, a growing industry that Kiwis rely on everyday as it supplies us with food, products, and essential goods. We are pleased leading New Zealand brands are stepping up to participate in this exciting initiative.
“Consumers and companies are becoming more aware of emissions and together with Hyzon we are providing ‘kiwi’ businesses with a viable solution.”
The Hyzon FCEV trucks are designed to meet New Zealand road requirements and the demands of heavy freight applications.
The trucks will be built in a 6×4 configuration, will include a sleeper cab option and will have a gross combination mass (GCM) of 58 tonnes and range of 680km.
Hyzon’s FCEV trucks said to have a comparable-to-diesel refuelling times.