From a Tacoma, Wash., parking lot on Tuesday, the constant roar of big trucks could be heard passing on the nearby freeway. But in the lot itself, the sound was delightfully less noisy, as electric trucks and other alternative energy vehicles whisked in and out during the Green Transportation Summit and Expo.
It’s one thing to be snuck up on by a Tesla at the grocery store, but it’s still rather surprising to have a large Kenworth or Freightliner or Volvo truck move past whisper quiet. It made it easy to hear the event’s director, Brian Trice, express his enthusiasm for what’s here and what’s coming in sustainable transportation.
“The fact that we’re here now and you can actually witness these vehicles, that’s a big deal,” Trice said. “Five years ago, these things were just kind of test models.”
Transportation is the leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Washington, according to the state’s Department of Ecology, which will require truck manufacturers to sell and register an increasing percentage of new, zero-emission alternatives to diesel, starting with model year 2025.
The three-day expo, which runs through Thursday, featured a ride-and-drive event on Tuesday, where attendees could get behind the wheel or into the passenger seat of more than two dozen vehicles. The lot behind the LeMay-America’s Car Museum featured everything from box trucks and flatbeds to steamrollers, excavators, street sweepers and more.
‘The fact that we’re here now and you can actually witness these vehicles, that’s a big deal.’
— Brian Trice
Charlie Vogelheim has more than 35 years of automotive industry experience, including as executive editor at both Kelley Blue Book and Motor Trend Auto Group. While taking in the event — now in its 12th year — he was struck by what it all means for cities looking to reach zero-carbon goals.
Waiting for necessary charging infrastructure to arrive along U.S. highways could slow adoption of zero-emission trucks, much as it has with cars. But Vogelheim said municipalities have the advantage of being able to take care of that infrastructure for vehicles in their own fleets that have set routes and can charge at dedicated spots each night.
“They can put some of these vehicles in play and really be a testbed,” he said of green-minded cities.
GeekWire got a closer look at several vehicles and took a test drive on Tuesday. Keep reading for insights.
Kenworth T680 FCEV hydrogen fuel cell truck
- Kenworth’s class 8 T680 FCEV truck features a fuel cell developed by Toyota, which converts compressed hydrogen gas into electricity to power a 310 kW electric motor, while also topping off 200 kWh of battery storage. The motor is powered by a combination of the batteries and the gas being converted into electricity. The range is 450 miles and it can refuel in 20 to 30 minutes. The truck, built at Kenworth’s Renton, Wash., plant, will go to market in 2025 and the appearance this week is only the second time the vehicle has been shown at a public event.
Westport Fuel Systems, hydrogen and natural gas-powered trucks
- Vancouver, B.C.-based Westport Fuel Systems was showing off two class 8 Volvo trucks with internal combustion engines powered by Westport’s natural gas and hydrogen fuel systems. The natural gas truck has been commercially available in Europe since 2017. Westport essentially replaced that system with high-pressure hydrogen for its newest concept truck. “The point was to prove that you could burn hydrogen in an internal combustion engine with better performance and better efficiency than a standard diesel truck. And we’ve done that,” said Westport’s Charlie Ker. The goal is to produce or 70 or 80 kg hydrogen system with a long-haul range of 500 miles.
Dynapac cc1000 e roller
- The roads and lots the trucks at Tuesday’s event drive on may someday be rolled by an electric machine made by South Carolina-based Dynapac. A smaller roller called the CC1000 e is part of the company’s Z.ERA program aimed at emission-free vehicles for work on projects such as small roads or bike lanes. “It’s the same unit we’ve been building, that had an engine in it, and we just converted it to electric,” said Dynapac’s Joe Turnage. The roller has lower noise levels, lower operating costs and no exhaust fumes, and it can hold a charge for an eight-hour workday.
Volvo EC230 excavator
- Volvo’s electric construction equipment is designed to respond as quickly if not quicker than its diesel counterparts, which can sometimes lag. And it does it without the noise and harmful emissions that so many of these manufacturers are eliminating by going green. An excavator on display Tuesday appeared to have all the necessary might to tear up the parking lot, and to do so would be relying on a 264 kWh of battery capacity and four to five hours of run time.
Enviro-Clean electric street sweeper
- There’s clean energy and then there’s clean energy that cleans. For a vehicle designed for a dirty job, the electric street sweeper from Gresham, Ore.-based Enviro-Clean Equipment was probably the cutest vehicle at the expo. Looking like a Zamboni with brushes on the front, the sweeper takes more of the noise out of a job that usually generates plenty. Steve Bruning, who works in sales for Enviro-Clean, had the machine in Vancouver, Wash., recently where it was able to cover a nine-hour shift without a charge.
Test drive
- The last time I drove a sizable box truck was in 1996 when I moved across country to Seattle. On Tuesday I got behind the wheel of International’s Electric MV class B truck — without my furniture, wife or cats. Even after standing in the lot watching and listening to trucks come and go, I was still struck by how quiet the eMV felt inside the cab. My co-pilot from International, who had 30 or so years of long-haul trucking experience, said he was still not used to electric because he relied on the sounds his diesel trucks would make to alert him when something was malfunctioning. In a short drive around the Tacoma Dome, I got a taste for the acceleration of the eMV, which features a 210 kWh battery pack, 335 hp and 135 miles of range. It reminded me, in a much bulkier and heavier fashion as I worked the brake and gas on a slight incline, of previous drives in zippy electric cars.
