This video gives us an idea of what we may see in Australia in the years to come, when looking at future product from Kenworth. This is what the brand had on show for US truck buyers at the recent Alternative Clean Transportation Expo in California.
Paccar are some way down the alt-power road in North America and the joint venture with Toyota gives the global truck maker a strong position going forward in the development of meaningful fuel cell technology for trucks in the future.
The development of electric trucks is a lot more advanced in the US, and especially so in California where the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will only allow low emission trucks to move freight in and out of the port. The intention is to move quite quickly to zero emission vehicles.
There are a number of reasons why the use of lower emission is so much further advanced in that area than here in Australia. One is the fact that California is a world leader in moving the industry towards lower emissions. Its Clean Air Resources Board (CARB) has been introducing strict limits to emissions for many years.
Initially the fight was against the smog which cloaked Los Angeles and the role exhaust emissions played in its development. The strict rules we all adhere to now, on particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, were first introduced in the state and enforced strongly.
California also knew the issue would be best solved by cleaning up the older trucks and subsidised the purchase of newer cleaner trucks or the retro-fitting of technology to reduce PM and NOx to clean up the environment.
CARB has not stopped there, with new goals driving change in the state of California. The target is 100 per cent zero emission vehicle sales by 2035, a full transition across to zero emission local trucks and those hauling in and out of the ports by 2035 and then zero emission trucks only on the roads of the state by 2045.
These are bold plans and show a strong commitment to battle climate change. That kind of change will have to take place here in Australia, but we know it is going to be on a lot longer timescale. However it is useful, looking at future product from Kenworth, because these are the choices we are likely to be looking at in the not too distant future.
