GM Working On 2-Megawatt Hydrogen-Powered Mining Truck
It’s the heaviest hauler.
General Motors is collaborating with ultra-class truck builder Komatsu on a hydrogen fuel cell-powered mining truck.
The massive vehicle will use GM’s Hydrotec power cubes in place of the 16-cylinder diesel engines found in similar trucks today, which are used to power electric motors that drive the wheels.
The Hydrotec system uses catalysts to combine hydrogen stored in tanks with atmospheric oxygen to create water, a process that creates electricity.
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The system is lighter than a battery-powered one would be and can be filled up faster than batteries can charge.
GM said that the truck will use enough power cubes to provide two megawatts of power — roughly 2,700 hp — for the giant truck, which is being designed with a 320-ton payload capacity.
The vehicle will be developed at Komatsu’s Arizona Proving Grounds and the team is aiming to have a prototype completed by mid-decade.
GM last week announced plans to work with Autocar on Class 7/8 vocational trucks, which seemed at the time that they’d be the largest Hydrotec vehicles, but are absolutely dwarfed by the Komatsu.
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