POLA Rolls Out Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Freight Demonstration

SAN PEDRO – June 7, 2021 – The Port of Los Angeles and its partners June 7, launched the beginning of a pollution-free goods movement with the debut of five new hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles or FCEV and the grand opening of two hydrogen fueling stations. Under the $82.5 million Shore-to-Store (S2S) project, more than a dozen public and private sector partners have teamed up for a 12-month demonstration of the zero-emissions Class 8 trucks and will expand the project to include five more hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty trucks, two battery-electric yard tractors, and two battery-electric forklifts.

The large-scale, multiyear demonstration is designed to advance the Port’s Clean Air Action Plan goals and help California achieve statewide climate change, air quality improvement and sustainability targets for reducing greenhouse gases and toxic air emissions. The project is designed to assess the operational and technical feasibility of the vehicles in a heavy-duty setting, as well as to expand infrastructure to support hydrogen throughout the region.

The Port’s technology development partners are Toyota Motor North America, which designed and built the powertrain’s fuel cell electric power supply system; Kenworth Truck Co., which designed and built the Class 8 trucks with Toyota’s fuel cell electric system; and Shell Oil Products US (Shell), which designed, built and will operate the project’s two new high-capacity hydrogen fueling stations in Wilmington and Ontario.

Link to Video www./www.youtube.com/watch/pola-hydrogenfuel-cell 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is supporting the project with a matching grant of $41.4 million. Project partners are contributing the remaining $41.4 million in financial and in-kind support.

Partners operating the trucks are Toyota Logistics Services (TLS), UPS, and trucking companies Total Transportation Services Inc. (TTSI) and Southern Counties Express (SCE).

Air Liquide is also participating as a fuel supplier. The Port of Hueneme will partner on drayage runs and serve as the site for testing the zero-emissions yard tractors.

Other public sector partners are the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), serving as a project advisor; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which will collect and analyze project data; and the Coalition for a Safe Environment, representing the community. Many communities that are home to ports and related trucking and warehouse operations are low-income areas disproportionately impacted by air pollution from vessels, rail, trucking and off-road cargo handling equipment.

The vehicles’ duty cycles will consist of local pickup and delivery and drayage near the Port and short regional haul applications in the Inland Empire. Partners will study the technical feasibility of hydrogen-fueled tractors and battery-electric cargo handling equipment operating under the rigorous demands of the Southern California market. They will also measure the reduction of nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other pollutants.