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Pizza Hut and Toyota partner on pizza making truck

Photo courtesy of Pizza Hut.

October 31, 2018

Pizza Hut and Toyota have partnered to create a zero-emission pizza making truck, dubbed the Tundra PIE Pro. The full-size pizza-making truck was introduced at Toyota's 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas this week.

The truckbed is actually more aptly a truck kitchen, in this case, and is in fact known as "The Kitchen," since it brandishes a pair of computer-guided robotic arms, conveyor oven and refrigerator, according to a press release. Like the truck itself, all components in The Kitchen are powered by a hydrogen fuel cell electric powertrain contributing to its claim to fame as a zero-emission vehicle, if you don't count pizza emissions. Pies take six to seven minutes to churn out through the mobile pizza maker. 

"Nothing tastes better than a fresh Pizza Hut pizza straight out of the oven," Pizza Hut Chief Brand Officer Marianne Radley said in the release. 

The starting point for the Tundra PIE Pro was a Tundra SR5 that was torn down to a bare rolling chassis and then reassembled from the ground up. The conventional gasoline powered drivetrain was removed and replaced with a hydrogen fuel cell electric power unit adapted from the Toyota Mirai.

When a pizza is ordered, the first robotic arm opens the refrigerator and removes the selected pizza, places it on the oven conveyor, and returns to close the refrigerator door. The pizza is then sent through a high-speed ventless oven. On the far side, a second arm removes the finished pie, places it on the cutting board, divides it into six identical slices, boxes it up and delivers it to the customer.