• Plans to introduce hydrogen trucks to Southern California-based Toyota North American Parts Center fleet
• Investments in hydrogen infrastructure to benefit trucking fleets and consumers
• North American debut of Toyota's more efficient, more powerful Gen 3 FC system

Toyota Motor North America (Toyota) reaffirmed its commitment to a hydrogen society, introducing hydrogen-related plans, investments and debuting new fuel cell technologies and products.

Toyota Group Vice President of Powertrain Engineering Jordan Choby announced plans to introduce hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric Class 8 heavy-duty trucks as part of an effort to reduce the number of diesel-powered tractor trailers servicing Toyota's North America Parts Center California (NAPCC). To support the new hydrogen trucks in the fleet, the company also announced plans for a new hydrogen fueling station to be built on the NAPCC campus, as well as plans to further invest and vertically integrate into the hydrogen ecosystem.

Toyota also debuted its next-generation fuel cell technology in North America, the Toyota Gen 3 FC system. "Hydrogen as a fuel – and especially fuel cells – offer benefits that can make a positive change, and we are invested in their long-term success," Choby said. "We are investing in resources that we believe will lead to sustainable growth, both for our operations and the entire value chain in this still-evolving transportation sector."

With Class 8 heavy-duty trucks powered by fuel cells moving out of their pilot phase, Toyota will begin introducing production-level FCEV trucks to its logistics fleet, running routes from the Port of Long Beach to the NAPCC in Ontario, California, and even as far south as San Diego. The shift is part of Toyota's 2050 Challenge goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from its supply chain.

"Our goals, capabilities to accomplish those goals and long-term mindset have put Toyota in a position to be a leader moving the global transportation industry forward," Choby said.

To bring its plans to life, Toyota is working with Air Liquide and Iwatani to strengthen fueling infrastructure. With Iwatani, there is an additional focus on commercial vehicles for a state-of-the-art station using new liquid hydrogen technology and SAE J2601/5-capable high-flow fueling systems. The high-flow system enables faster fueling than conventional hydrogen fueling stations, comparable in fueling time with diesel fuel pumps, and especially useful to fleet and commercial customers in helping improve operational uptime.

Toyota and Air Liquide will work together on sourcing and delivering hydrogen molecules from Air Liquide's dedicated hydrogen mobility plant in North Las Vegas, Nevada, with a focus on supplying the NAPCC station with reliable, affordable liquid hydrogen.

Toyota will also look to build relationships with other companies and organizations in the U.S. as well as those abroad.

In Japan, Toyota Motor Corporation is collaborating with Chiyoda on electrolysis technology, where they are combining their respective expertise in industrial products and plant engineering. Electrolyzers are devices capable of splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, the process to generate hydrogen fuel. Toyota is also looking to extract hydrogen from the methane byproducts derived from animal waste, wastewater treatment plants and landfills.

"Hydrogen is another path to energy independence, security and innovation, expanding how we can move people, goods, information, energy, and society," Choby said.