Vision Tyrano Truck
The Vision Industries Tyrano Truck is a heavy duty vehicle weighing
80,000 lbs. that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell plus plug-in hybrid
electric batteries. The Tyrano truck was developed to haul cargo
around the shipping ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California
where smog from trucks is a considerable problem.
The Vision Tyrano truck (pictured above) uses compressed hydrogen
gas for fuel and has a standard range of 200 miles (one tank on
the side of the vehicle) or an extended range of 400 miles (with
another tank on the other side). The Vision truck also uses regenerative
braking to recapture energy and recharge the battery pack.
The Tyrano is a Class 8 truck that is considered a zero emissions
vehicle, is three times as quiet as its diesel counterpart and
delivers twice the torque. Operating costs of the Tyrano are 50-percent
less and an LNG truck and 35-percent less than a diesel truck.
Most trucks around the Port of Los Angeles or Port of Long Beach
do not exceed 200 miles in one day and this means that two or
three hydrogen fueling stations per port would be all that is
needed to support a fleet of Vision Tyrano vehicles. It also means
the Tyrano will only need one refueling per 8 hour shift.
The State of California Senate has presented Vision Industries
a Certificate of Recognition for Environmental Sustainability.
The Vision Tyrano has also won the praise of California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger and other environmental notables.
In 2011, the State of California has ordered that older, more
polluting diesel trucks must be retrofitted or replaced in order
to continue operation. It has been estimated that diesel trucks
contribute 1/3 of all road related smog in California.
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Vision Industries and Capacity of Texas,
Inc. have teamed up to build a Zero Emissions Terminal Tractor
(ZETT) that is pictured right and uses similar hydrogen
fuel cell plug-in hybrid technology as the Tyrano truck.
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Vision Industries has entered into two more partnership of interest.
The first is with FedEx that will have one of its trucks retrofitted
with the Tyrano Truck technology and tested for one year.
The second partnership is with Asemblon with the ambitions of
creating a nationwide hydrogen refueling infrastructure at existing
truck stops nationwide. Asemblon has created a hydrogen rich liquid
chemical called Hydrnol that can be pumped into a special tank
inside the truck.
Once inside, the hydrogen gas will be extracted, run through
the fuel cell and the spent Hydrnol will go into a separate container
to be pumped out during the next refueling. This means that some
Tyrano trucks such as at the ports may be equipped with compressed
hydrogen tanks while other long haul trucks may be equipped with
a tank that accepts room-temperature hydrogen slurry that can
be used for fuel.
Buyers of the Tyrano truck are eligible for a $40,000 federal
tax credit and will meet or exceed all state and national standards
for truck emissions.
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