Meritor and Hexagon to develop hydrogen FC trucks
The ePowertrain can be customised based on application needs across Class 5-8 commercial vehicles.
Meritor, Inc. will supply its Blue Horizon™ 14Xe™ ePowertrains to Hexagon Purus for a near-term development program to take the program to production.
Meritor’s ePowertrain will be used in two different hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle applications in North America, including a Class 8 drayage truck and yard hauler.
The deal follows Hexagon Purus and Meritor partnering to integrate the 14Xe™ ePowertrain into Hexagon Purus’ Class 6, Class 7 trucks and Class 8 (6×4) vehicles. The integrated electric powertrains will provide the propulsion within the Hexagon Purus trucks, resulting in zero emissions transport. Both companies announced in May 2021 to collaborate to integrate Meritor’s Blue Horizon™ 14Xe™ ePowertrain into Hexagon Purus’ contracted projects that include Class 6, Class 7 trucks and Class 8 (6×4) vehicles.
Meanwhile, Meritor also announced its collaboration with BAE Systems to deliver electrification for the Industrial and Defense markets. Both companies will work together to offer fully-integrated electric vehicle solutions. BAE Systems will leverage its systems integration and power electronics expertise to incorporate its power management system with Meritor’s ePowertrain for a comprehensive and compact solution.
Early this year Meritor announced to be the recipient of the Advanced Propulsion Centre’s (APC) Core Competition Program in the UK to partially fund the design and development of Meritor’s 17Xe™ electric powertrain system heavy-duty electric trucks and buses equipped with a single drive axle. In partnership with Danfoss Editron and Electra Commercial Vehicles, the consortium submitted the EPIC (Electric Powertrain Integration for heavy Commercial vehicles) Project. The integrated system suits fully electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and series hybrid and plug-in hybrid configurations.
