Entertainment

Global auto tech company SEA Electric is adding a hydrogen range-extender option to its systems that power large commercial electric trucks.

SEA Electric is launching the SEA-Drive 250 model, along with the optional hydrogen RE (range extender) model that will feature a power system paired with a 45kW hydrogen fuel cell.

This model is designed for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating/gross combined vehicle weight rating of up to 80,000 lbs (36,250 kg), in Class 8 rigid or day-cab configurations. It’s an ideal solution for garbage trucks, for example, and SEA says this covers 95% of the market with any chassis combination.

Tony Fairweather, SEA Electric Founder and CEO, said:

The SEA-Drive 250 RE represents a major breakthrough for SEA Electric in our efforts to electrify the world’s commercial transport fleet.

The power-system is perfectly suited to the rigors of lighter duty refuse collection, with the platform already proven in other deployments in the space via pure-battery powered configurations.

What this means is that noisy refuse trucks will be a thing of the past, which is sure to be welcomed by anyone living in an urban environment.

Fairweather also said that the electric-hydrogen combo allows the company to branch out into such areas and applications as day-cab (a heavy-duty truck without a sleeper cabin) and drayage tractor applications.

SEA Electric hasn’t provided any specs for the SEA-Drive 250 yet, as it will launch it at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Anaheim, California, at the beginning of May. Its other four power system’s specs are detailed here.

In March, Mack Trucks announced that it signed a five-year agreement with SEA Electric, which will supply Mack with its SEA-Drive power system.

Read more: Mack Trucks launches its first medium-duty electric truck 


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