Total Transportation Services, Inc. president Vic La Rosa (left) and Vision Industries CEO Martin Schuermann with Freightliner Cascadia-chassis Hydrogenics hydrogen fuel cell Tyranno truck at the FedEx-hosted APEC USA 2011 event at the Oakland International Airport on September 13. The zero-emissions Class 8 truck for port drayage work has a Siemens drivetrain and three 17.3- by 80-inch fuel cylinders by Worthington Cylinders/SCI pressurized to an unusual 6,250 psi. Vision and its Vision Motor Corp affiliate have publicized a letter of intent from TTSI for 100 Tyrano trucks for approximately $27 million (F&F, August 1).
“Today we celebrate the birthplace of the hydrogen economy and zero-emission transportation,” Martin Schuermann, CEO of Vision Industries said as the first of 100 or even 400 Class 8 fuel cell tractors was delivered in July to Rancho Dominguez, Calif.-based Total Transportation Services, Inc. (Booth 804).
“This single truck was built for $270,000,” TTSI president Vic La Rosa told Fleets & Fuels.
A vehicle design using lots of lithium batteries and a smaller fuel cell makes it possible, they say. “It’s a big difference in system architecture,” says Schuermann. “We get by with a much smaller fuel cell,” he says – 33 kilowatts as compared to 150 kilowatts in a fuel cell transit bus.
According to La Rosa, the fuel cell accounts for about $50,000 of the current $270,000 tab.
“We’re trying to get these vehicles down to $200,000,” Schuermann says.
The Tyrano is built on a Freightliner (Booth 300) Cascadia chassis with a 33-kilowatt Hydrogenics fuel cell, with Siemens (Booth 302) motors and driveline electronics governed by Vision software making for the equivalent of a 536-peak-horsepower (3,300 foot pounds peak torque) engine.
The truck’s hydrogen fuel tanks are provided by Worthington Cylinders/SCI. Three 17.3- by 80-inch tanks are pressurized to an unusual 6,250 psi. The vehicle has lithium ion batteries with an integrated battery management system.
The Tyrano vehicle is to perform typical drayage operations, hauling freight containers from terminals in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
