Hino Motors, Toyota Group’s commercial vehicle subsidiary, said it will launch Japan’s first mass-produced fuel cell heavy-duty truck, the Profia Z FCV, on October 24. The hydrogen-powered model is intended to support the country’s efforts to cut emissions from the commercial transport sector.
The Profia Z FCV uses Toyota’s second-generation fuel cell stack, first introduced in the Mirai sedan in 2020 and produced at Toyota’s Honsha plant. While output figures for the truck have not been disclosed, the Mirai’s system produces 128 kW.
The heavy-duty truck is equipped with six hydrogen tanks capable of storing 50 kilograms of hydrogen at 70 MPa pressure, providing a driving range of up to 650 kilometres in internal tests. Measuring 12 metres in length, 2.5 metres in width and 3.8 metres in height, the Profia Z FCV will be offered in dry van and wing body configurations, with a payload capacity of about 11.6 tonnes.
Hino said the truck will be offered on a lease basis with maintenance included, initially targeting five priority regions designated by the Japanese government for fuel cell vehicle adoption: Fukushima, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi, Hyogo and Fukuoka. Development of the Profia Z FCV began in 2020, with a prototype tested over 400,000 km before entering production. Heavy-duty trucks account for around 60% of CO2 emissions from commercial vehicles in Japan, and Hino said the new model is part of its strategy to significantly reduce emissions in the sector.
The company added that it will showcase a concept version of the Profia Z FCV equipped with Level 4 automated driving functions at the Japan Mobility Show, which opens October 29.