Hydrogen power for RACV tilt tray trucks

MELBOURNE is set to become the new home of Hyzon Motors after the hydrogen truck manufacturer signed a deal with the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) to produce zero-emissions hydrogen powered tilt-tray trucks for its subsidiary Nationwide Group.

Based in Noble Park (Victoria), the group’s new purpose-built Australia’s headquarters will include corporate offices, a showroom, assembly warehousing and service workshop. 

The facility is expected to generate more than 100 localised engineering and manufacturing jobs by 2025, with “hundreds more indirect jobs expected (to be created) through the supply chain”, Hyzon Motors managing director John Edgley said.

“We are focused on generating new jobs, new manufacturing and technology facilities, and a fundamentally new industry in Australia and New Zealand that will underpin a sustainable future for the region,” Mr Edgley said.

“With governments across Australia and New Zealand shifting their focus towards hydrogen as a cost-competitive and zero-emissions fuel source, Hyzon stands ready to support and partner on key projects and initiatives.

“Hyzon has already hit the ground running in the region, with scheduled 2022 deliveries including coaches to Fortescue Metals in Western Australia, Prime movers to Coregas in NSW and TR Group in New Zealand, Road train prime movers to Ark Energy in Queensland and the HyMax GSL garbage trucks with Superior Pak across the region.

“The opportunity to partner and work with the RACV, a trusted brand, across the home, motoring, mobility, energy and leisure sectors is an exciting prospect for our business,” he added.

The partnership includes a first order of three hydrogen powered Hyzon HyMax TT7 tilt-tray trucks for RACV-owned subsidiary Nationwide Group, which is the first order of such vehicles for an Australian towing company. These will be trialled by Nationwide Group later this year. 

The Group is also set to trial Hyzon’s fully imported HyMax prime movers, possibly in a heavy haulage role, towards the end of 2022.

“RACV is a strong supporter of the transition to a cleaner energy future,” RACV CEO Neil Taylor said.

“We have a purchase power agreement with Snowy Hydro, which covers all our company owned sites in Victoria, are a major and fast-growing player in the Solar Installation Market via RACV Solar and have other investments in Cleaner Energy, such as Chargefox, Restart EV and have installed Solar Power at all RACV Victorian Resorts. 

“We see building a bigger portfolio of Cleaner Energy assets and businesses as a strong part of RACV’s future, both within Victoria and across Australia.

“Our partnership with Hyzon Motors is the first of its kind in Victoria and will generate new local jobs and contribute significantly to a cleaner energy future over many years,” he concluded.

Hyzon is a global fuel-cell manufacturer with bases in Australia, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States. 

It provides end-to-end mobility solutions for the commercial vehicle sector and related hydrogen supply infrastructure and says it aims to “mitigate emissions from diesel transportation, which is one of the single largest sources of carbon emissions globally”.

Nationwide Group CEO Michael Stephenson said the business was excited to explore the part hydrogen can play in the future of road transport in Australia.

“Nationwide is keen to assess the performance of these vehicles in a real-world test for towing and transport and is thrilled to be part of this new industry leading partnership,” he said.