SAN PEDRO, Calif. — The Port of Los Angeles and its partners on June 7 announced the launch of five new hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), along with 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 zero-emission Class 8 trucks. The project will be expanded 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 (CAAP) goals and help California achieve statewide climate change, air-quality improvement, and sustainability targets for reducing greenhouse gases and toxic air emissions. The project will assess the operational and technical feasibility of using FCEVs in a heavy-duty setting, as well as expand infrastructure to support hydrogen-fueled vehicles throughout the region.
“Transporting goods between our port and the Inland Empire is the first leg of this next journey toward a zero-emissions future,” said Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. “This project is a model for developing and commercializing the next generation of clean trucks and cargo-handling equipment for the region and beyond. Just as the air we breathe extends beyond the port’s footprint, so should the clean air and economic benefits we believe this project will yield.”
The port’s technology development partners include 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 powered by Toyota’s fuel cell electric system; and Shell Oil Products, which designed, built and will operate the project’s two new high-capacity hydrogen fueling stations in Wilmington, California, and Ontario, California.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is supporting the project with a matching grant of $41.1 million. Project partners will contribute the remaining $41.4 million in financial and in-kind support.
“For generations, neighborhoods located next to high-volume traffic corridors have experienced disproportionately high rates of air pollution and pollution-related illness, particularly in the greater Los Angeles region,” said Craig Segall, deputy executive officer for CARB. “We are working steadily to change this trajectory by helping to fund, support and promote comprehensive efforts like the Port of L.A.’s Shore-to-Store Project that will run cleaner and quieter trucks that will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower smog-forming emissions as well. It’s a sizable investment in a project with the potential to radically transform how we move freight in one of the most populous regions in the U.S.”
Partners operating the trucks include Toyota Logistics Services and UPS, along with trucking companies Total Transportation Services Inc. and Southern Counties Express.
Gas and technology leader 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-emission yard tractors.
Other public sector partners include 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.
The vehicles’ duty cycles will consist of local pickup and delivery and drayage near the Port of Los Angeles and short regional-haul applications in the Inland Empire. Project partners will study the technical feasibility of hydrogen-fueled tractors and battery-electric cargo-handling equipment operating in the southern California market. At the same time, it will measure the reduction of nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other pollutants.
The Port of Los Angeles S2S Project is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities. The demonstration is moving forward with a $41.1 million grant from CARB’s zero and near zero emissions freight facilities (ZANZEFF) program, paired with financial or in-kind support from participating partners.
Planning for S2S began in 2018. The project is one of 16 demonstrations underway at the port to accelerate near-zero and zero-emissions solutions for moving cargo.
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Will the hydrogen fueling stations be open to the public? Including passenger vehicles and motorcycles?