Japanese commercial vehicle manufacturer Isuzu Motors has announced that its F-Series of cab-over medium-duty trucks will introduce a variant with a battery-electric powertrain alongside the existing diesel-powered models.
The Isuzu F-Series BEV trucks will make use of the Accelera battery-electric powertrain system by Cummins. Note that the images in this article show F-Series trucks, but these are ICE vehicles, since images of the battery-electric variant are not yet publicly available.
The ePowertrain systems by Accelera that Isuzu will use for its BEV trucks are a modular zero-emissions motor solution that can be readily adapted to fit in any current OEM commercial vehicle, including buses as well as light, medium, and heavy trucks, according to the manufacturer.
Part of the system is the scalable eAxle, an axle assembly that can be built for multiple vehicle sizes and layouts, and that works with parking brakes in addition to being optimized for regenerative braking.
This development is potentially significant for General Motors because the Isuzu F-Series trucks are practically the same as the Chevy Low Cab Forward the Japanese company manufactures for GM, including the Chevy LCF 6500 XD and Chevy LCF 7500 XD trucks. The Isuzu Class 6 FTR is the same as the LCF 6500 XD Diesel, while the Class 7 FVR is the same as the LCF 7500 XD Diesel.
This means any BEV powertrain fitted to Isuzu F-Series trucks could also, in theory, be used directly in the Chevy LCF trucks. Given The General’s interest in electrification, there is an opportunity to use the same technology to produce an all-electric LCF variant. However, at this point, GM appears to be mostly or exclusively interested in advancing its Hydrotec hydrogen fuel cell technology for commercial vehicle use.
Notably, Isuzu already debuted its first electric truck, the 2025 Isuzu NRR EV. For reference, the current Chevy Low Cab Forward has three ICE powerplants available, namely, the naturally aspirated 6.6L V8 L8T gasoline engine developing 350 horsepower and 425 pound-feet of torque, the 5.2L I4 I1B turbodiesel providing output of 214 horsepower and 452 pound-feet of torque, and the Cummins 6.7L I6 LCB turbodiesel, rated at 260 horsepower and 660 pound-feet of torque.
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Comments
Building Hydrogen Trucks…. Maybe GM should look at the Abortion of Law Suits Toyota is getting with there being no refueling available for both generations of their silly MIRAI 100% hydrogen vehicle.
Was costly to refuel at $16 per kilogram but now in California its $38 per kg, which means if you had a Prius, you could refuel costing $28 but with the Mirai plan on spending $280, or TEN TIMES the gasoline cost.
Of course, people when they find a RARE WORKING dispensary, have to wait in Line for 4 hours to refuel, or else wait for the connector on the car ahead of them to defrost to disconnect the filling hose.
You have to wonder about the stupidity of Californians buying a HYDROGEN powered car when Refueling is so dicey its getting to be non-existent. The dispensers only cost $1-2 Million, and apparently no one wants to spend the money to fix the ones that they’ve already built. Simply not rugged enough to withstand the cold, or the 10,000 pounds-per-square-inch required.
Now GM wants to make H2 fuel cell vehicles instead? It must have taken Mary Barra’s GENIUS to come up with that!
People just think that battery chargers are hard to find. Hydrogen may be an answer someday, but, IMHO, now is not that time.