The Dakar Hydrogen Racer Comes To The ACT Expo In Long Beach

As a part of its worldwide tour to promote hydrogen heavy duty and logistics vehicles, French manufacturer Gaussin is bringing its Dakar-tested hydrogen racing truck to Long Beach, CA. A unique H2 Racing Truck^® will be displayed outside of the convention center while participating in the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, May 9-12. With this outdoor display, even the general public can get a glimpse of the future of emission-free transport. Gaussin will be in good company as there will be a few more zero emission trucks from other manufacturers on display as well.

Inspired by its success in the Dakar Rally
RLY
, Gaussin has initiated a worldwide tour of five continents to promote its know-how in hydrogen vehicles by showcasing the competition truck. The tour has had a soft launch in France and, after clearing the customs in Baltimore, is making its way through the USA with a stop at the ACT Expo. The touring plans, following the Expo, will include US West Coast and Canada before heading back to Europe. The 2023 touring will also allow Gaussin to connect with potential customers and partners in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Gaussin is proud of its recent accomplishments both in the Dakar Rally race as well as with its business development, including the addition of a 28,000 square-meter assembly plant in France to drive the logistic vehicle production toward 2,400 vehicles per year from its current 800 vehicle capacity.

In addition to the hydrogen racing truck, the tour will also feature the electric APM 75T electric port terminal tractor. As described in a previous article, Gaussin offers its lineup of cargo vehicles in both electric and hydrogen variants by deploying the modular approach. The built-in autonomy features greatly increase the safety while speeding up operations. In late 2021, the company started the delivery of 20 hydrogen-ready yard trucks (ATM-H2) to Plug Power
PLUG
, an industry leading fuel cell provider for forklifts, for the integration of its fuel cells serving as range extenders. In turn, Plug Power plans to deploy these hydrogen ATMs to its existing customers in North America.

Inside of the ACT Expo Gaussin may be found at the booths of several partners . Gaussin successfully engaged several strategic partners on the development of the racing truck, which, for example, is powered by four Hyundai fuel cells. The company will be represented by its upper management CEO Christophe Gaussin, CTO Simon Klein, Executive Vice President for North America Gary Patterson and the marketing team.

The ACT Expo is a major US conference and expo that looks at the future of clean transportation for fleets. Every major manufacturer and supplier with North America aspirations have their vehicles displayed there. This is an exciting mix of clean vehicles and related technologies: trucks of all classes, buses, forklifts, logistics vehicles, garbage trucks, trailers, alternative fuels, and relevant part suppliers. This year the expo will be attended by more than 5,000 visitors, the largest number ever in this burgeoning market.

According to a recent California Fuel Cell Partnership report “Achieving California’s Zero-Emission Future for Freight Movement,” 70,000 hydrogen HD long-haul trucks are needed to sustain the West coast trades. This would not only service instate but also interstate commerce connected to the California ports and businesses. The report highlights the need of transitioning to H2 trucks replacing “the high-emitting drayage truck sector, including 17,000 vehicles registered to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach alone.” Thus, Gaussin hopes to capitalize on this market with its port logistics and potentially heavy-duty offerings.