KRW rolls out hydrogen fuel cell Quantum truck

KRW Motor Group, distributor of incoming DFAC truck brand and parent company of electric truck importer Foton Mobility Distribution, has turned its attention to heavy-duty hydrogen showcasing its incoming Quantum H53 prime mover at a Sydney drive day on 10 July.

Looking beyond its array of light- and medium-duty electric and diesel models, across Foton and DFAC brands, KRW Motor Group is now importing the hydrogen model from Chinese heavy vehicle brand Shacman.

The vehicles will be sold as the Quantum H53 in Australia, a 53-tonne gross combination mass (GCM) 6x4 prime mover featuring a 240kW Sinohytec fuel cell with 73kg hydrogen tank, charging a 117kWh battery, for a driving range of between 450km and 600km.

Drive comes via dual motors, producing combined peak outputs of 504kW/1100Nm.

These trucks, KRW Sales Manager, Heavy Vehicles, Iain Dorward explains, are best suited to applications like container transport, and urban last-mile operations.

“We know that 33 per cent of containers are moved via a single trailer, so that market is perfect,” he explained.

“Especially coming in and out of the port, if they’ve just got to go from one part of the port to a holding yard, that's within 200km or 250km – they’ve got the range.

“For applications like that, they can refuel on the way back and do it over and over again, so it’s a great start.”

The limiting factor for hydrogen trucks right now, Mr Dorward says, is limited refuelling infrastructure but he reiterated that the network is fast expanding around key transport hubs.

“If you had a hydrogen refuelling station every 400km, between say, Brisbane and Melbourne, there’s no reason you couldn’t take a trailer between the cities,” he said.

“But, you’ve got the Viva Energy hydrogen refuelling station in Geelong, so that allows operators to work from Geelong up to the airport, or Footscray, or somewhere there in Melbourne, before heading back again.”

Mr Dorward explains that after a driving time of around five hours, which the truck’s current range allows, drivers will be required to take a break, meaning refuelling is significantly less of a hurdle than the charging required for battery-electric trucks.

“Every time you refuel up, you know, if the driver's going for five hours, he's got to have a break, so with the right refuelling technology from the pump site the truck can take up to five kilograms a minute, which means that you can fill the truck up within 15-minute period,” he said.

Mr Dorward explained that the trucks arrive in Australia ready-to-run, having worked with Shacman to specify the “one-size-fits-most” specification for the local market – and the production capacity is virtually unlimited.

“We’re not bringing in a vehicle that hasn’t been tried before, the R&D is already done and there’s no pass-on cost for that,” he said.

“They come in fully assembled, so we bring in a complete unit, and the potential to deliver them is limitless – these guys can build in excess of 80,000 vehicles a year, so we’re not going to have any supply issues.”

Mr Dorward told GoAuto that the first Quantum H53 is set to hit the road within the next month, put to work on Queensland roads once the ADR approval process is finalised.