On Thursday last week in New South Wales, Australian automotive distributor KRW Motor Group offered up its new ‘Quantum H53‘ hydrogen fuel cell truck for test drives, and HVIA staff were keen to support the exciting event and have a go behind the wheel.
Debuting in Australia at the 2025 Brisbane Truck Show, KRW is the Australian and New Zealand distributor for the DFAC brand, and is behind the Foton range of electric trucks, the Foton EV and hydrogen bus distribution business, and soon-to-be-released Shacman range of hydrogen prime movers.
The Quantum 53 features a 240-kW SinoHytec fuel cell, an integrated electric powertrain and drive axle assembly that reduces weight, and can support a gross mass of up to 53 tonnes.
Its performance impressed all present on the day, including HVIA’s Chief Advocacy Officer Dr Adele Lausberg and Chief Technical Offer Adam Ritzinger.
“Getting behind the wheel of the truck, coupled to a Toll Group semi-trailer loaded with 25 tonnes of steel, was thrilling,” Adele says. “The entire KRW team can stand very proud at successfully bringing this vehicle to Australia.”
Adam drove the truck as well but was strangely also very interested in a barely-visible puddle of water that collected next to the vehicle while it was stationary.
“That puddle might not look like much, but what it represents is incredibly meaningful and impactful,” he says.
“It’s the emissions from the vehicle’s propulsion system, and it’s just plain water. A few decades ago, this was science fiction, but it’s here right now.”
Earlier this year, KRW Motor Group announced its intention to create a new manufacturing hub for the next-generation of electric trucks and buses in Nowra. The project centres on construction of a 6,000-square-metre facility on a 15,000-square-metre parcel of land in South Nowra, currently owned by KRW.
The facility will produce battery electric buses and trucks, as well as hydrogen fuel cell engines, creating around 100 skilled manufacturing jobs for local workers. The factory will have capacity to build and deliver more than 400 buses a year.