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Isuzu details electric truck plans, including battery and hydrogen fuel-cell technologies

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A production electric truck could be based on Isuzu’s ELF concept from the 2019 Tokyo motor show.
A production electric truck could be based on Isuzu’s ELF concept from the 2019 Tokyo motor show.
Neil Dowling
Contributing Journalist
2 Nov 2021
3 min read

Isuzu aims to launch an electric truck as early as next year as it embarks on its “rapid acceleration” carbon-neutral strategy towards zero-emission products by 2040.

The brand said volume production of electric trucks would begin next year “in some markets”, likely based on the 2019 electric Elf walk-through concept van that this year was brought to Australia from Japan in its first overseas showing.

Isuzu Australia Ltd chief of strategy Grant Cooper said the EV plans would include seeking out “the best tech for the future”, including battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell

The company is in alliances with Honda to develop fuel-cell power units for Isuzu’s bigger Giga truck series, but indicated that this was a ‘short term” partnership.

Isuzu’s longer-term agreements are with Volvo Truck for technology, and with Toyota and Hino for next-generation small-truck development in battery EV, fuel-cell and autonomous driving systems. 

Mr Cooper said Isuzu was testing variations of alternative power plants and autonomous driving programs, including the FLIR concept platooning driverless trucks shown originally with the Elf EV at the 46th Tokyo motor show in 2019.

“Elf EV is more a light-duty pick-up and delivery truck for ‘last mile’ duties,” he said.

“Australia is the only market to see this outside of Japan, which speaks of the extremely high regard Isuzu has in the Australian market.

“It has a 150kW, or 200hp, motor developed for short haul applications. It is a concept that is continually being upgraded, starting with a battery energy density of 180 Watt-hours per kilogram and now developed to 260Wh/kg.

“That’s a 20 per cent increase in performance year-on-year and at the same time, we have seen the cost of components fall by 18 per cent.”

Mr Cooper said a feature of the Elf was its ‘saddlebag’ placement of the batteries, mounted on either side of the frame rails rather than in the centre.

“This allows better space savings including the walk-through feature. So, via a swivel seat, the driver can walk to the cargo area and depart via a side door,” he said.

“This reduces possible injury to the driver. It also has a digital mirror system using cameras to replace the large external mirrors with internal screens. 

“This reduces fuel use through an improvement in aerodynamics by two per cent while increasing the driver’s visibility around the vehicle. This includes when parking because of Elf’s 3D cameras that ‘see’ around the vehicle.

“It also has advanced ADAS systems to reduce the probability of accidents.”

Mr Cooper said Elf was designed to suit short-haul, high density urban routes – much of the same environment intended for Isuzu’s partnership with Australian EV truck component company SEA Electric – and that it would not be seen out of place “zipping around Melbourne or Sydney urban areas supporting larger truck fleets”.

Neil Dowling
Contributing Journalist
GoAutoMedia Cars have been the corner stone to Neil’s passion, beginning at pre-school age, through school but then pushed sideways while he studied accounting. It was rekindled when he started contributing to magazines including Bushdriver and then when he started a motoring section in Perth’s The Western Mail. He was then appointed as a finance writer for the evening Daily News, supplemented by writing its motoring column. He moved to The Sunday Times as finance editor and after a nine-year term, finally drove back into motoring when in 1998 he was asked to rebrand and restyle the newspaper’s motoring section, expanding it over 12 years from a two-page section to a 36-page lift-out. In 2010 he was selected to join News Ltd’s national motoring group Carsguide and covered national and international events, launches, news conferences and Car of the Year awards until November 2014 when he moved into freelancing, working for GoAuto, The West Australian, Western 4WDriver magazine, Bauer Media and as an online content writer for one of Australia’s biggest car groups. He has involved himself in all aspects including motorsport where he has competed in everything from motocross to motorkhanas and rallies including Targa West and the ARC Forest Rally. He loves all facets of the car industry, from design, manufacture, testing, marketing and even business structures and believes cars are one of the few high-volume consumables to combine a very high degree of engineering enlivened with an even higher degree of emotion from its consumers.
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