The California Energy Commission (CEC) has selected Symbio, Michelin, Faurecia along with GTI and other industry partners, to develop and demonstrate a hydrogen-fueled, regional-haul Class 8 truck, as major contributors to a state-supported hydrogen mobility project.
The “Symbio H2 Central Valley Express” project, supported with $2 million from the CEC, will develop and demonstrate a hydrogen fuel cell truck that matches the performance of a 15-liter diesel truck providing a zero-emission solution for demanding regional-haul trucking operations. Starting in the second half of 2023, the truck will run for 12 months on a challenging 400-mile route between the Inland Empire and Northern San Joaquin Valley. Located inside California natural gas investor-owned utility territory, it will utilize existing and future hydrogen infrastructure primarily provided by Air Liquide, Shell and Trillium’s. This hydrogen truck project strives to support California’s goal to achieve economy wide carbon neutrality by 2045.
Faurecia, company of the Group FORVIA, will bring its expertise in hydrogen storage systems by providing a complete hydrogen storage system with five 700 bar homologated tanks.
For their part, Michelin will provide low-rolling resistance tires that combine safety, longevity, environmental protection and increased load capacity. With these technologically advanced tires, adapted for heavy duty transportation, Michelin is supporting the transition to cleaner, more efficient electric mobility solutions that offer greater range.
Symbio will design, develop, and integrate a heavy-duty long-haul truck ready fuel cell powertrain powered by Symbio’s fuel cell stack technology – StackPack, coupled with Faurecia’s hydrogen storage system and Michelin’s low resistance tires into a Freightliner Cascadia platform.
GTI, a research and training organization, will lead the grant administration, provide technical insight and program management as well as perform data collection. Other project partners include Total Transportation Services (TTSI), the fleet operator that will demonstrate the truck, Frontier Energy for community outreach, and Ricardo Strategic Consulting for demonstration data analysis. Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and Utilization Technology Development (UTD) will provide funding support.
