LOS ANGELES --- The Port of Los Angeles has entered negotiations with Vision Industries Corp., a locally based manufacturer of the plug-in electric/hydrogen fuel cell hybrid Tyrano truck. 

As part of the agreement under negotiation, eight zero-emission big-rigs will soon be tested to evaluate their suitability for short- and medium-distance cargo-hauling and other applications. Each $250,000 truck runs on a combination of hydrogen fuel cells and lithium batteries. Local short-haul trucking firms will help administer the tests over the next year, the Daily Breeze newspaper reported. Data will be compiled by an environmental research unit at the University of California, Riverside. 

Vision Industries, which has spent the past four years developing the hybrid trucks, rolled out its first model last April. The company's manufacturing plant is in El Segundo, CA. 

According to Vision Industries, the trucks produce 450 horsepower and have a range of up to 400 miles.

"If we find it's a viable technology, we will figure out how to get these trucks into the hands of drivers," Phillip Sanfield, a Port of Los Angeles spokesman, told the Daily Breeze newspaper. 

The deal under negotiation is an effort to help meet the goals of the port's Clean Truck Program. The neighboring Port of Long Beach is also negotiating a similar contract with Vision Industries.