TR Group orders 20 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Trucks

In News3 MinutesBy NZ Trucking magazineNovember 5, 2021

Heavy commercial vehicle leasing and rental company TR Group has ordered 20 Hyzon Hydrogen Fuel Cell Trucks for the New Zealand market. The 447kW (600hp), 58-tonne GCM tractor units will be powered by 100% green hydrogen, with the only emissions being water vapour.

The 20 HFC trucks will be made available to customers by way of a Fully Maintained Operating Lease (FMOL), including fuel. They will remove approximately 5000 tonnes of CO2 from our atmosphere every year.

The first units will be in New Zealand in mid-2022 for performance testing with the balance arriving towards the end of the year.

TR Group has worked closely with the New Zealand Government and Hiringa Refuelling New Zealand Limited (Hiringa Refuelling), which is developing the fuel supply network to support the trucks.

The New Zealand Government has also been a key support in this project with $6 million in co-funding coming from the COVID Response and Recovery Fund and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

TR Group’s general manager, Brendan King, said: “We have had great uptake from customers for these vehicles, who share similar values to ourselves when it comes to decarbonising the transport network and making the world a greener place. If we are serious about reducing our impact on the environment, it is important that we embrace and seek to understand this technology and help develop it for New Zealand conditions as well as helping to develop the support networks for it, such as service and repair expertise and the vital refuelling infrastructure. This can only be done with real world use of this technology.”

Hyzon Motors CEO, Craig Knight, said: “Hyzon is proud to participate in this exceptional partnership with TR Group and Hiringa to decarbonise New Zealand’s heavy transport sector.”

King added: “Of course we couldn’t have done this without the support of our partners – EECA, the New Zealand Government, Hiringa Refuelling and Hyzon, and are incredibly grateful to them. We’re hugely excited about the learnings ahead and we look forward to playing our part in New Zealand’s journey towards a zero-emission transport future. There’s a long way to go but this is a really positive first step.”