As prepared for:

Project Portal Announcement
The Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Bob Carter, Executive Vice President – Sales, Toyota Motor North America

Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining us today at the Port of Los Angeles.
 
Toyota and the San Pedro Bay Ports have been in partnership for many years. Hundreds of Toyotas a day roll out of our logistics facility just a few miles from here. 
 
Which is why the opportunity to work together with the Ports on this groundbreaking project was a natural collaboration. 
 
But before I tell you more about that, I’d like to take a moment to introduce some of the special guests who have joined us today.
 
First, it’s my pleasure to introduce the Honorable Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, who represents Torrance, Harbor City, Lomita, among other cities here in the South Bay, and who has provided strong leadership in the legislature for clean vehicles and transportation.
 
Second, I'm pleased to introduce Tony Gioiello, the Deputy Director of Development here at the Port. Tony, thank you for hosting us today! 
 
 
I’d also like to recognize three of our prominent government leaders who are collaborating with us to deliver fuel cell and hydrogen solutions in the state of California:
Mary Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board; Commissioner Janea Scott from the California Energy Commission; and Wayne Nastri, Executive Officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. 
 
We appreciate you taking the time to share this exciting announcement with us.    
                     
And from Toyota, I’m very happy to welcome Shinichi Yasui, President, Toyota Motors North America R&D.  Yasui-san’s team was key in making this concept a reality.
 
Today were are celebrating another next step in Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell technology and in our journey to build what we’ve called a broader “hydrogen society.”
 
For more than twenty years, we have been engaged in the development and introduction of fuel cell vehicles because we understand the technology’s tremendous potential –
and the meaningful benefit it can make to society as a zero-emission powertrain of the future.

Why? First, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles offer all of the performance and convenience of traditional, internal-combustion engines, but they emit nothing but water vapor.
 
And second, fuel cell technology is powerful, versatile, and scalable to a range of vehicle types, applications, and industries.
 
You can see that in the fuel cell vehicles that Toyota has on the road today, from the Toyota Mirai sedan, to the fuel cell buses we’ve developed in Japan, in partnership with Hino Motors.
 
In fact, we have always believed that heavy-duty vehicles are one place where fuel cell technology can deliver significant impact
because they can be a zero-emission solution to an industry that struggles with emission reduction.  
 
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what brings us together today.
 
As many of you know, last November Toyota announced that we were exploring the potential for our fuel cell technology to power a heavy duty truck.
 
Today, we take the next step – we’re putting this fuel cell-powered heavy duty truck to work here at the Port of Los Angeles.
 
Without further ado, I’m very proud to introduce… the Portal Project
 
[TRUCK REVEAL]
 
Let me tell you, this truck is an engineering marvel that really shows off the power and versatility of Toyota’s fuel cell technology.
 
It is a fully-functional, zero-emission,
Class 8 heavy-duty truck concept, built to deliver the kind of power and performance needed to support drayage operations here at the ports, or any port for that matter.
 
Portal is powered by the fuel cell stacks from two Toyota Mirai sedans and a remarkably small 12 kilowatt hour battery.
 
And with that? More than 670 horsepower, 1325 pound feet of maximum torque and a gross combined weight capacity of 80,000 lbs. 
 
Its estimated driving range is more than 200 miles per hydrogen fill, more than enough for short cargo trips in and around a port environment.
 
I also need to mention its nearly silent operation. In fact, the truck you see behind me is still running… Amazing. 
 
Starting this summer, this truck will be on the job here at the Port of LA as part of a feasibility study examining the performance of hydrogen fuel cell technology in heavy duty applications.
 
And there really is no better place for this study.
 
The Port of Los Angeles, along with the Port of Long Beach, are true leaders in the fight to reduce harmful pollution from heavy-duty commercial and industrial activities.
 
Since 2006, they have been engaged in a landmark Clean Air Action Plan to reduce the air pollution from port operations, and the program has seen remarkable success.
 
For heavy-duty vehicles alone, they’ve cut CO2 emissions by almost twenty percent, or nearly ninety-thousand tons.
 
But there’s much more we can do, and we’re really excited about the possibility of supporting the Clean Air Action Plan with a true zero-emission heavy duty truck.
 
For now, this is a short-haul feasibility study. Who knows what it will lead to? Perhaps long-haul capability. 
 
I don’t need to tell you the far-reaching societal benefits that this kind of technology can offer.
 
This is a program that helps addresses local, regional and national concerns as well as environmental and quality of life issues–and it has far-reaching global applications.
 
Before we hear from Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, we have another video. 
 
Please play the video
 
(After the video ends)  Want to see it again?
 
One more time please. I love this video.
 
Assemblymember?
 
[ASSEMBLYMEMBER MURATSUCHI REMARKS]
 
Thank you Assemblymember Muratsuchi and thank you again for your continued leadership. 
 
 And now it’s my pleasure to turn it over to Tony Gioiello, who can tell you about the impact zero-emission heavy duty trucks could have on the Port and their efforts toward greening Port operations.
 
Tony?
 
[GIOIELLO REMARKS]
 
Thank you Tony! 
 
Many of you here today know our next guest, Mary Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board.  Mary has led the charge for zero emission transportation solutions for the state of California. 
 
Mary?
 
[NICHOLS REMARKS]
 
Thank you Mary.  By the way Mary, since this is a zero-emissions vehicle, I got to drive it in the carpool lanes this morning. 
 
And now I’d like to welcome another leader for the state of California, Commissioner Janea Scott from the California Energy Commission. 
 
Janea?
 
[COMMISSIONER SCOTT REMARKS]
        
Thank you Janae, and thank you everyone for joining us.
 
You know, at Toyota we talk about the promise of a hydrogen society, and I think you can start to see what that would look like.
 
Now, obviously, Portal is just one piece of that puzzle, which is why we’re still pushing ahead to support the refueling infrastructure that will make these vehicles a reality for everyone.
 
Just a few weeks ago, we were excited to announce a groundbreaking agreement with Shell that marks the first initiative in the US by a major oil and gas company to develop hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
 
This brings the resources and expertise of an energy company to the infrastructure effort in California. 
 
We’d like to acknowledge and thank both Janea and Mary for their leadership in establishing this critical collaboration.
 
And stay tuned…we have much more exciting news for you in the weeks and months ahead.
 
Thank you very much for being here today and I’d like to invite our special guests and the Portal team up for a quick photo before we all take a closer look at the truck.