Isuzu Motors Limited and Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a R&D subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., signed an agreement to undertake joint research on heavy-duty trucks, utilizing fuel cells as the powertrain. Today, the automobile industry is facing demand to reduce exhaust gas/carbon emissions from mobility products in order to address the on-going global challenge of reducing environmental footprint. Moreover, from the perspective of energy security, the industry is required to take initiatives to promote utilization of renewable energy.
Under these circumstances, as a commercial vehicle manufacturer committed to support transportation, Isuzu has been striving to promote the utilization of low-carbon and sustainable energy. To that end, Isuzu has been researching and developing various powertrains including engines for natural gas vehicles and electric vehicle powertrains, which accommodate a broad range of customer needs and how vehicles are used.
In parallel, Honda has been working toward the realization of a carbon-free society and, to this end, in addition to hybrid and battery electric vehicles, it has been researching and developing fuel cell vehicles, the ultimate environmental technology, for more than 30 years. But there are still some issues that need to be addressed to popularize the use of fuel cell and hydrogen energy. These issues, mostly related to cost and infrastructure, need to be tackled not only by individual companies but more expansively through industry-wide initiatives.
Against this backdrop, Isuzu was striving to expand its lineup of next-generation powertrains for heavy-duty trucks, and Honda was striving to expand application of its fuel cell technologies beyond use for passenger vehicles, which will represent progress toward the realization of a hydrogen society. Sharing the same technological research goals, the two companies reached an agreement to conduct joint research on heavy-duty fuel cell trucks.
Taking advantage of the respective strengths each company has amassed over a long period of time, that is, Isuzu’s strengths in the development of heavy-duty trucks and Honda’s strengths in the development of fuel cell, the two companies will strive to establish the foundation for basic technologies such as fuel cell powertrain and vehicle control technologies.
Moreover, through this joint research, Isuzu and Honda will not only realize clean, low-noise, low-vibration heavy-duty trucks customers are waiting for, but also promote expansive discussions by the industry so that the use of fuel cell trucks and hydrogen energy can contribute to the future prosperity of the logistics industry and all other industries in the society and to the early realization of hydrogen society.
Source: Isuzu/Honda
