Researchers in the Oregon State University (OSU) College of Engineering are partnering with Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) to develop a Class-8 fuel cell electric truck with a 600-mile range, a 25,000-hour cell life and a payload capacity equivalent to that of a diesel truck as part of DTNA’s SuperTruck 3 project funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE). (Earlier post.)

OSU’s Yue Cao and Alan Fern will use advanced electrical propulsion and artificial intelligence research to create the power electronics, motor drive technology and energy management tools for the hydrogen fuel cell truck tractor.

Cao, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Fern, professor of computer science, have received $860,000 for their role in the four-year Daimler SuperTruck project.

The work by Oregon State is part of $25.8 million awarded by the Department of Energy to Daimler Trucks North America, headquartered in Portland, and $199 million awarded overall by the DOE to fund 25 projects geared toward putting cleaner cars and trucks on America’s roads and improving the nation’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

According to the DOE, the transportation sector is the US leader in carbon pollution among all economic sectors, accounting for nearly 29% of emissions. The department awarded a total of $127 million to five heavy-vehicle manufacturers in the latest round of SuperTruck funding, the third since the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy launched the initiative in 2009.

Initial project phases will include technology modeling, analysis, concept selection and design. Later stages involve building a demonstration truck and testing it under highway conditions.