Hyzon has launched a locally-made hydrogen-powered prime mover that is set to go into pilot programs across Australia later this year, scaling production in 2025.
The US-headquartered company, with an Australian assembly plant at Noble Park, unveiled the 50-tonne truck, which comes equipped with a single stack 200kW fuel cell system and powertrain, at a ceremony in the Kangan Institute in Melbourne today.
The prime mover is Hyzon’s second locally designed, engineered and built hydrogen fuel cell electric truck, following the launch of a refuse truck which went into commercial operation in NSW in October 2023.
Managing director of Hyzon Australia, John Edgley, said that the new truck is set to “revolutionise” Australia’s heavy-duty transport market and is an important step in solving a uniquely Australian problem: conquering heavier payloads and longer distance requirements, without emissions.
“We look forward to working with transport operators across Australia and New Zealand as we move forward with the decarbonization of our transport sector,” he added.
Edgley told Big Rigs that the truck has a range of about 400km on a full tank of hydrogen gas, depending on the terrain and the weight of the load.
He acknowledged that a major barrier to the uptake of hydrogen-powered trucks is the lack of hydrogen refuelling stations in Australia.
“At the moment, there aren’t many refuellers open,” he said.
“New Zealand has underwritten a national network of refuellers and so they’ve got four opening up in the middle of this year.
“Australia has not done that yet. There’s a Viva refueller opening in Geelong later this year, which will be open to the public.
“But most of our customers have committed to building their own refuellers.”
Another pain point is the price of the truck, which comes in at approximately $800-$850k.
“It’s not affordable for owner drivers or smaller fleet owners,” Edgley said.
“That’s part of the work we have to do.
“This is the first of its kind here. This is only the fourteenth truck that we have built out of our plant in Noble Park.
“To make this cost effective, we have to get volume and we have to get customer commitment and we have to get partnerships.”
Edgley assured potential customers that the truck is very safe to operate.
“This is a full integrated vehicle that goes through ADR testing and compliance and then is type approved, which means it’s a heavily regulated process.
“Every safety feature that is built into modern trucks is fully functional in these trucks.
“Then in terms of managing the hydrogen and batteries, which is what people get concerned about, that is part of our testing and validation process.
“We just have to remain diligent on that. It’s one of the primary focuses of our team.”