Kenworth Truck postpones start of production of H2 tractor

Kenworth Truck's hydrogen fuel cell electric T680 tractors will not roll off the production line starting this year. The reason is the gaps in hydrogen refueling infrastructure across the North American market. A new date for the start of production has yet to be set.

Kenworth Chief Engineer Joe Adams told journalists that the company was waiting for the appropriate refuelling infrastructure in the US and that it wants to make sure that the tractor unit is profitable.

Almost two years ago, the Paccar subsidiary announced that it would equip the H2 tractor units with Toyota’s next-generation hydrogen fuel cell modules. Moreover, the plan was to deliver the first units to customers as early as last year and Kenworth started accepting pre-orders.

The timetable seemed realistic, as there is already a battery-electric version of the Kenworth T680. In fact, Kenworth deployed ten Kenworth T680 FCEV trucks at the Port of Los Angeles in 2022 as part of a pilot to further improve the vehicle’s performance and range.

According to the manufacturer, the Kenworth T680 has a range of up to 450 miles. That is about 724 kilometres. The truck is equipped with Toyota’s 310 kW Dual Motor Assembly, which delivers a continuous output of 415 hp with a maximum payload of the equivalent of 37 tonnes.

Parallel to the Kenworth T680 fuel-cell truck, production of the Peterbilt 579 was also set to start this year. Peterbilt is, just like Kenworth, a Paccar brand and was supposed to use Toyota’s fuel-cell technology. According to Transport Topics, Peterbilt says that it will start production only when the infrastructure is available across the country.

ttnews.com