As part of a field test comprising four comparable vehicles, the first DAF CF Electric 6x2 refuse collection truck has entered operations with Dutch public waste disposal firm ROVA. The vehicle features a zero-emission VDL electric powertrain alongside a fully electric VDL refuse collection superstructure. The vehicle will be operated... Read more →

Loop Energy, a provider of fuel-cell-electric range-extenders for medium- and heavy-duty transport applications, has received an additional cash investment from Cummins Inc. The further investment was made following Loop’s successful completion of milestone requirements established at the time of Cummins initial investment in September 2019. (Earlier post.) Loop Energy fuel-cell... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Hino Motors, Ltd. have agreed to develop a heavy-duty fuel cell truck jointly, and to proceed with initiatives toward its practical use through verification tests and other means. The heavy-duty fuel cell truck in this joint development project is based on Hino Profia, and is being... Read more →

European battery manufacturer Northvolt has delivered its largest order of lithium-ion battery systems to date to mining and infrastructure industries supplier Epiroc. Epiroc Boltec M Battery rock bolting rig, right side view. Source: Epiroc. Northvolt has partnered with Epiroc for more than two years and has developed a platform of... Read more →

Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies is expanding its Endurant automated transmission lineup with the introduction of the all-new Endurant XD series. The Eaton Cummins Endurant XD series are purpose-built, high-performance automated transmissions designed for on-highway applications with high gross combined weight ratings, such as double and triple trailer trucks, and... Read more →

UPS has begun testing the suitability and durability of Gaussin electric vehicles, which also have autonomous driving capability, to move semi-trailers and containers on the grounds of UPS’ advanced-technology London Hub. During the initial phase of the test, UPS will operate the electric vehicles (Trailer and Swap Body Mover, TSBM)—known... Read more →

Rolls-Royce and ASI Mining have agreed to ensure compatibility of MTU engines and ASI’s Mobius command and control software for autonomous vehicles. The two partners have signed a Memorandum of Understanding enabling Rolls-Royce to offer autonomous-compatible, Mobius-ready MTU engine solutions for equipment in a wide range of mining applications. With... Read more →

Renault Trucks is beginning serial production of its D and D Wide Z.E. electric trucks (earlier post) in its Blainville-sur-Orne plant in Normandy. The factory, which has been operating since 1957, specializes in the production of medium-duty vehicles and truck cabins; 240 cabins are made every day and 72 distribution... Read more →

EV developer Faraday Future and US Hybrid Corporation are collaborating to advance the use of FF’s electric propulsion system in new energy products currently under development by US Hybrid. FF is committed to the development of EV solutions along with US Hybrid to support California’s drive towards zero emissions for... Read more →

Nikola Corporation, a designer and developer of BEV and FCEV Class 8 trucks is executing a reverse merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. to create a company focused on the development of next generation smart transportation. VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq:VTIQ) is a $230-million publicly traded Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) formed... Read more →

Daimler Trucks has launched additional electric Freightliner trucks for customer testing in North America. The Customer Experience (CX) fleet from Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) consists of six heavy-duty Freightliner eCascadia and two medium-duty Freightliner eM2 106. Over a period of 22 months, 14 different customers from a range of... Read more →

For the first time, some US Postal Service packages are being delivered via emission-reducing propane autogas trucks. McAbee Trucking, a freight shipping and trucking company based in Blacksburg, SC, purchased eight Ford F-750 delivery trucks fueled by propane autogas, a domestically produced, clean and economical alternative fuel. The vehicles are... Read more →

BAE Systems has been selected by Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) and the Republic of Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) to supply up to 600 electric power and propulsion systems for its new fleet of buses in Ireland. The selection includes an initial order for 100 systems. The Series-ER system (earlier... Read more →

ElectReon has successfully wirelessly charged a fully electric 40-ton truck and trailer at a test facility in Sweden. The next step will be to charge the truck through dynamic wireless power transfer on a public road in Gotland, Sweden. The Smartroad Gotland project is the first wireless electric road system... Read more →

The Netherlands-based Terberg is introducing a new generation of electric vehicles with new EV technology, including the YT203-EV terminal tractor (which replaces the older YT202-EV) and the BC202-EV body carrier. New generation YT203-EV The performance of the new electric drive system is comparable with that of diesel engines and the... Read more →

SuperTurbo Technologies Inc. (formerly VanDyne SuperTurbo) has appointed Ricardo Performance Products to support the first phase of commercial industrialization of the SuperTurbo system—a novel planetary traction drive that enables high speed power transfer to and from a turbocharger shaft, offering significant driveability and fuel efficiency benefits for large trucks. The... Read more →

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE)—a non-profit organization dedicated to doubling the freight efficiency of North American goods movement—has determined that regional trucking operations are well suited to be early adopters of electric trucks. It is also a rather large segment of the market with sufficient scale to... Read more →

Hyliion Inc. will be providing three vehicles to Penske Truck Leasing, all of which will incorporate its 6X4HE Class 8 hybrid system. (Earlier post.) The solution was developed in partnership with Dana Inc., whose Spicer Electrified components are part of the e-Powertrain solution. The Hyliion 6X4HE’s modular design allows for... Read more →

The automated snow removal by two self-driving Mercedes-Benz Arocs in Immendingen shows a successful application for automated commercial vehicles in closed areas. The joint project of Lab1886, the innovation unit for new business models within Mercedes-Benz AG, and Daimler Truck AG has now become a product that can be used... Read more →

Plug Power Inc. is partnering with Colorado-based Lightning Systems, a global developer of zero-emission drivetrains. This collaboration enables both companies to offer the first electric, fuel-cell-powered Class 6 trucks (up to 12.5 tons) capable of supporting middle-mile delivery logistics between warehouses and distribution centers. The electric commercial trucks produced by... Read more →

Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics, partners in Daimler Trucks’ Autonomous Technology Group (earlier post), will soon expand testing of automated truck technology to new public routes in the US. Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics are actively developing and testing automated trucks with SAE Level 4 intent technology on public roads.... Read more →

The E-Mobility Group of Daimler Trucks & Buses is launching a worldwide initiative to establish a charging infrastructure for battery-electric trucks. The initial focus is on charging stations installed at the depots of truck customers. Within the framework of the initiative, the E-Mobility Group is bringing together the main players—e-truck... Read more →

Plug Power Inc. has launched its heavy-duty 125 kW ProGen zero emission hydrogen fuel-cell system. ProGen fuel cell systems include the fuel-cell stack and all required subsystems for humidification, air delivery, fuel regulation and cooling. The new ProGen product expands Plug Power’s market reach into heavy-duty on and off-road applications... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company and Yeosu Gwangyang Port Corporation are partnering to commercialize hydrogen fuel-cell trucks. An MOU between the two includes the development and demonstration of hydrogen fuel-cell trucks for logistics transportation and the establishment of a hydrogen fueling station. The port region is home to petrochemical complexes that produce... Read more →

Norwegian wholesaler ASKO is deploying two battery electric Scania distribution trucks in its operations in Oslo, Norway. This pilot marks another milestone in the cooperation regarding electrified solutions for heavy transport between Scania and ASKO. Asko is also piloting the use of hydrogen fuel-cell trucks with Scania. (Earlier post.) The... Read more →

Greenlots, a member of the Shell Group and a provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging and energy management solutions, has installed charging infrastructure for a fleet of electrified commercial trucks as part of its ongoing partnership with Volvo Trucks. The heavy-duty fleet charging stations are the first of four installations... Read more →

Volvo Trucks North America offered a first look at its Class 8 battery-electric project trucks during an exclusive event at TEC Equipment dealership in Fontana, California. The Volvo Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS) Innovation Showcase, held at Volvo Trucks’ TEC Equipment dealership’s Fontana location, revealed the progress that... Read more →

Global mining company, Anglo American, has engaged Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) to develop its new Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV): a 290-tonne electrically powered mining haul truck, which is set to be the world’s largest electrified vehicle. (Earlier post.) As part of its FutureSmart Mining program, which applies innovative thinking... Read more →

Faurecia recently was awarded a significant contract for fuel cell electric vehicle storage systems from Hyundai Motor Company. Faurecia will supply the entire hydrogen storage system (including 10,000 hydrogen tanks) which will be produced in its new global center of expertise dedicated to hydrogen storage systems in Bavans, France with... Read more →

IVECO and FPT Industrial, the commercial vehicle and powertrain brands of CNH Industrial N.V., and Nikola Motor Company will manufacture, through their European joint venture, the Nikola TRE in Ulm, Germany, at the IVECO manufacturing facility. This strategic and exclusive heavy-duty truck partnership saw CNH Industrial taking a $250-million stake... Read more →

[In the earlier version of this post, I mistakenly linked to and used the 2019 report rather than the current 2020 report. I apologize for the error. —Ed] The Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association (MECA) released a new report—“Technology Feasibility for Heavy-Duty Diesel Trucks in Achieving 90% Lower NOx Standards... Read more →

Renault Trucks signed a contract with the Carlsberg Group to deliver twenty D Wide Z.E electric trucks. These 26-tonne trucks, which will be delivered in 2020, will be operated by the Feldschlösschen brewery, the Group’s Swiss subsidiary. The D Wide Z.E. is equipped with two electric motors with a total... Read more →

UPS has entered into multi-year renewable natural gas (RNG) agreements with Kinetrex Energy and TruStar Energy. Together, these two contracts will supply UPS with up to 80 million gallon equivalents (GEs) of RNG over the terms of the agreements. The use of RNG is a very important part of UPS’... Read more →

An interagency collaboration between the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Defense (DoD) will support an opportunity to address disaster mitigation through the use of an advanced fuel truck technology concept known as H2Rescue. (Earlier post.) The H2Rescue is a fuel cell/battery hybrid truck that first responders... Read more →

Norwegian wholesaler Asko is among the first to operate a goods vehicle that runs on hydrogen, thanks to a collaborative effort by research scientists and industry. SINTEF, one of Europe’s largest independent research organizations, has been working with Asko and hydrogen fuel for almost ten years with the aim of... Read more →

Solaris has won a tender for the delivery of three articulated electric buses to the operator SWB in Bonn. The Urbino 18 electric buses feature the new generation of Solaris High Energy+ batteries. Pursuant to the agreement, the Solaris buses will be put into service this year. A key condition... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems announced that its proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel-cell technology and products have now successfully powered Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles in commercial Heavy- and Medium-Duty Motive applications for an industry-leading cumulative total of more than 30 million kilometers (18.5 million miles) on roads around the globe. Ballard’s FCmove... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office, in collaboration with the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office, has established technical targets for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in long-haul tractor-trailer Class 8 truck applications. These targets will help guide early stage R&D and serve as benchmarks for tracking technology.... Read more →

E-Trucks Europe, a manufacturer of electric-hydrogen hybrid commercial vehicles, has ordered five HyRange fuel cell systems from Proton Motor. The five hydrogen fuel cell systems will be used to outfit electric refuse trucks as part of the EU project REVIVE (Refuse Vehicle Innovation and Validation in Europe). The tender, which... Read more →

SAE International published its latest standard, SAE J3105: Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System Using Conductive Automated Connection Devices, along with three new tributary documents. The standard covers the general physical, electrical, functional, testing, and performance requirements for a mechanized (hands-free) conductive power transfer system primarily for transit buses using an... Read more →

Meritor, a leading global supplier of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket solutions for commercial vehicle and industrial markets, has acquired all the outstanding common shares of Transportation Power (TransPower), a provider of electrification technologies for large commercial vehicles. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In 2017, Meritor made a... Read more →

Daimler Trucks is taking the next step in its electrification of trucks with the battery-electric low-floor heavy-duty truck Mercedes-Benz eEconic. Customer testing of the eEconic for municipal use will begin in 2021. Selected customers will test the vehicles for their everyday practicality in actual applications. The experience gained from customer... Read more →

Isuzu Motors Limited and Honda R&D Co., Ltd., a R&D subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., agreed to undertake joint research on heavy-duty trucks, utilizing fuel cells (FC) as the powertrain. As a commercial vehicle manufacturer committed to support transportation, Isuzu has been striving to promote the utilization of low-carbon... Read more →

Werner Enterprises, a premier transportation and logistics provider, is testing a 2019 Peterbilt 579 EV Class 8 electric truck for a year on a dedicated account in Southern California. Werner’s first electric-powered truck is the result of a partnership with Peterbilt, Meritor and TransPower. It is the first fully collision-mitigated... Read more →

road In a letter sent in late December, 11 senior executives from the US commercial vehicle industry urged California Governor Newsom to make a strong statement in his 2020-21 budget by allocating more funds for zero- and near-zero emission trucks, buses, and non-road equipment. The letter notes that the demand... Read more →

The US EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for the Cleaner Trucks Initiative (CTI). The eventual CTI rulemaking will establish new, more stringent emission standards for NOx and other pollutants for highway heavy-duty engines. EPA is seeking input from the public and interested stakeholders. This rulemaking will... Read more →

The Volvo Group and Isuzu Motors signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the intent to form a strategic alliance within commercial vehicles in order to capture the opportunities in the ongoing transformation of the industry. In a first step, the intention is to establish a global technology partnership and... Read more →

Since June 2019, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has been supplying the new heavy-duty Actros truck with MirrorCam—side-mounted digital rear-view mirrors—as a standard feature. The digital rear-view mirror not only looks futuristic but can also do much more than conventional main and wide-angle mirrors. Its performance far exceeds the legal requirements. The MirrorCam... Read more →

BYD has secured the largest single order to date for full battery-electric buses in Europe in a deal with Keolis Nederland BV, the Dutch subsidiary of global public transport provider, Keolis. The landmark order comprises 259 BYD eBuses scheduled for programmed delivery from next summer. For Keolis Nederland, BYD’s 8.7-meter... Read more →

California is joining with seven other states and the District of Columbia in committing to develop an action plan to put hundreds of thousands more zero-emission trucks and buses on their roads and highways. The partners will present a proposed memorandum of understanding to the governors of the states and... Read more →