Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/772176
commercial carrier journal | january 2017 21 JASON CANNON is Equipment Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcannon@randallreilly.com or call (205) 248-1175. Payback aside, the biggest knock on natural gas historically has been the lack of a nationwide fueling infrastructure. At 1,043 stations, the public CNG and LNG fueling network isn't expansive, and a hydrogen network is still in an embryonic state. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are currently only 31 U.S. public hydrogen stations, and 28 of them are in California; the other three are in Massachusetts, Connecticut and South Carolina. ere's almost 2,500 miles between California and South Carolina – more than double Nikola One's range claims. Trevor Milton, NMC founder and chief executive officer, says his compa- ny plans to solve that by building a network of 364 Nikola hydrogen fueling stations across the United States and Canada, with construction set to begin in early 2019. If that network buildout indeed hits 364 locations, there will be almost as many Nikola hydrogen stations as there are Love's Travel Stops, and it would more than sextuple the current number of public and private hydrogen stations in the United States. Hydrogen's sudden pass through the spotlight is helped by the fact that these state-of-the-art trucks have some eye-popping styling, but this kind of inno- vation comes at a cost. A Toyota Mirai stickers for about $57,000 – more than double a base-model Camry. A Nikola One tractor is expected to go for around $400,000. ere are credits and incentives that make both more appealing if reduc- ing your carbon footprint isn't enough. In Nikola's case, it's a million miles of free hydrogen and maintenance services included in the lease payment, but it doesn't change the number on the sticker. Well over a quarter of a million dollars is a tough nut to crack. e technologies that Nikola and Toyota are poised to bring to market are exciting prospects, and this space warrants watching in the years ahead, but it's going to take more than sexy wrapping and a green consciousness to displace diesel as the king of the road. WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. Peloton to help develop truck platooning tech A utomated vehicle company Peloton Technology is participating in a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored pro- gram to further develop its truck platoon- ing technology, with the goal of pushing the envelope on fuel economy. e project – the Next-Generation Energy Technolo- gies for Connected and Autonomous On- Road Vehicles program (or NEXTCAR) – is led by Purdue University. Peloton is working with Cummins, Peterbilt, ZF TRW, the University of Ari- zona and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a project team. Peloton is contributing its current platooning system and higher-automation platooning tech- nology under development. Cummins is offering powertrain technology, ZF TRW is supplying steering controls, and Peter- bilt is supplying the trucks. "Our first truck platooning system is coming to market in 2017," said Josh Swit- kes, Peloton chief executive officer. "is project will build upon our existing system and is complementary to the higher-auto- mation solutions we are developing next." e goal is to develop powertrain tech- nology and automated driving controls to improve fuel efficiency in tractor-trail- ers by 20 percent in real-world driving conditions. Another area of focus will be to improve connectivity for over-the- air engine recalibrations and computing between trucks and the cloud. e three-year project will launch in March. e team will receive $5 million in funding from DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. – Matt Cole Peloton will join forces with Cummins, Peterbilt and ZF TRW to develop a connected powertrain to increase fuel efficiency through platooning. A heavy-duty truck-sized fuel cell vehicle based on the Toyota Mirai, the company claims, creates a potential zero-emissions freight transportation solution for the future.