Hino Motors, the commercial vehicle arm of Toyota Group, has introduced the Profia Z FCV, Japan’s first mass-produced fuel cell heavy-duty truck. The new hydrogen-powered truck will officially launch on October 24 and marks a major step toward cleaner commercial transport in the country.
The Profia Z FCV was developed through the combined efforts of Hino Motors and Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota supplied its second-generation fuel cell stack, which was first used in the second-generation Mirai sedan in 2020 and is built at the Honsha plant, and adapted it for use in a heavy-duty truck. While neither company has shared the exact power output for this version, the original system in the Mirai sedan produces 172 hp .
The truck uses six hydrogen tanks that can store a total of 50 kilograms of hydrogen at 70 MPa. Hino says its internal testing shows the Profia Z FCV can travel up to 650 kilometers on a full tank. It measures 12000 mm long, 2500 mm wide, and 3800 mm meters high. The company plans to offer it in dry van and wing body versions, with the dry van model carrying about 11.6 tons of payload.
Hino Motors will lease the Profia Z FCV instead of selling it outright and will include maintenance as part of the lease. The company will first target five key regions in Japan where the government is promoting fuel cell commercial vehicles. These areas are Tohoku (Fukushima), Kanto (Tokyo and Kanagawa), Chubu (Aichi), Kinki (Hyogo), and Kyushu (Fukuoka).
Development of the Profia Z FCV started in March 2020 based on the existing internal combustion Profia, also known as the 700 Series in some markets. A prototype was built in 2023 and tested for more than 400,000 kilometers with partner companies. After over five years of work, Hino and Toyota have now completed development and moved the model to series production.
Heavy-duty trucks account for about 60 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from commercial vehicles in Japan. Hino aims to reduce these emissions with the introduction of the Profia Z FCV. Just days after its official launch, the company will also show a concept version capable of Level 4 automated driving at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, which opens on October 29.
Hino has not announced any plans to bring the Profia Z FCV outside Japan yet. However, you can still buy a Hino truck for your business at TruckDeal.com.ph
