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Australian electric truck maker SEA Electric will partner with Toyota to offer a new range of zero-emission trucks, which will be under the brand name of Toyota’s truck subsidiary, Hino.
The partnership was announced as part of a major launch of Hino Trucks’ ‘Project Z’, which sets the company’s path to bringing zero-emission commercial trucks to the market.
Hino is one of the world’s leading suppliers of trucks and heavy-duty vehicles, and is part of the group of companies of the vehicle giant Toyota. The company will expand its range of vehicles, which mainly includes diesel-fueled trucks, to include a number of hydrogen and electric fuel options.
The project will include a new fully electric Class 5 truck built on a Hino chassis and powered by an electric propulsion system supplied by SEA Electric, as well as a Class 8 tractor trailer powered by Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell system. .
Hino will also develop a fully electric tractor trailer built with an electric powertrain supplied by Hexagon Purus and a fully electric Class 8 truck built on the battery and propulsion system developed by Xos Trucks.
Hino expects to be able to deliver demonstration models to customers of what it describes as “low-cost and sustainable” fully electric and fuel cell trucks in 2022, with full-scale production beginning before 2024.
The deal is a huge blow to SEA Electric, which has already established an assembly base in Victoria and will provide Hino with the electric propulsion system that will power Hino’s M-series of mid-range trucks.
The electric propulsion system developed by SEA Electric has been implemented through a series of partnerships with major vehicle manufacturers. The company’s powertrain was chosen by Ford to power the American company’s F-59 all-electric van, and has also been used in the Isuzu F Series pickup.
SEA Electric currently operates a Dandenong-based factory in Victoria, and has sought to expand its presence in overseas markets and operates an additional facility in California. The company has already supplied a number of fully electric heavy-duty vehicles for use in Australia, including cargo trucks, garbage trucks, and a model cherry picker.
The company is looking to expand its operations to a new Morwell-based factory, which would also see the company increase its assembly production to around 5,000 vehicles a year.
Michael Mazengarb is a journalist for RenewEconomy, based in Sydney. Before joining RenewEconomy, Michael worked in the renewable energy industry for more than a decade.
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