Hydra Energy, the Hydrogen-as-a-Service (HaaS) provider for commercial fleets looking to reduce emissions and costs with limited risk and no up-front investment (earlier post), has delivered its first hydrogen-converted, heavy-duty truck to paying fleet customer Lodgewood Enterprises. Hydra offers a proven hydrogen-diesel, co-combustion retrofit approach; the retrofitted engines can run... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems, a world leader in PEM fuel cells, and Forsee Power, a developer of smart battery systems for sustainable electromobility, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a strategic partnership to develop fully integrated fuel cell and battery solutions, optimized for performance, cost and installation for the medium-... Read more →

Nikola Corporation announced a collaboration with PGT Trucking, Inc. (PGT), an international multi-service flatbed transportation company, to advance electric drive heavy-duty transport. This collaboration includes a Letter of Intent (LOI) to lease 100 Nikola Tre heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) following the satisfactory completion of a Nikola Tre FCEV... Read more →

Cummins Inc. will bring to market a 15-liter natural gas engine for heavy-duty trucks. The 15-liter natural gas engine is an important part of Cummins strategy for its path to zero emissions. The strategy focuses on new powertrains including advanced diesel, natural gas, hydrogen engines, hybrids, battery electric, and fuel... Read more →

Air Liquide and Faurecia signed a joint development agreement to design and produce on-board liquid hydrogen storage systems for the automotive industry. Liquid hydrogen storage for fuel cell vehicles is well-suited for long-haul applications; with this technology, the amount of hydrogen stored is double that of gaseous hydrogen. As a... Read more →

A new study by the UK-based Zemo Partnership recommends that UK Government policy should increase its focus on the well-to-wheel (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and overall energy efficiency performance of new fuels for transport. While hydrogen, electric and renewable fuels (produced from waste-based feedstocks) can all radically cut emissions... Read more →

Cummins will be launching a set of software features to integrate its powertrains with Automated Driving System (ADS) technologies from different providers. Cummins delivers powertrains that provide leading performance and fuel economy through the integration of hardware and software. With these new software features, Cummins will extend these core capabilities... Read more →

IDTechEx’s analysis in their new report, “Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles 2022-2042”, forecasts the market value of on-road fuel cell vehicles will grow to $160 billion in 2042 at a CAGR of 23.9% over the 20-year forecast period. The effort to decarbonize on-road vehicles is undoubtedly being led by BEVs; however... Read more →

The Hydrogen Heavy Duty Vehicle Industry Group—comprising Air Liquide, Hyundai, Nel Hydrogen, Nikola Corporation, Shell and Toyota—has signed agreements with Tatsuno Corporation and Transfer Oil S.p.A. to industrialize globally-standard 70 MPa hydrogen heavy-duty vehicle high-flow (H70HF) fueling hardware components. The Industry Group was formed in February 2019 with the goal... Read more →

The enhanced D13 Turbo Compound (D13TC) engine from Volvo Trucks is now standard on all Volvo VNL models, providing enhanced fuel efficiency and reducing overall cost of ownership. In Europe and other key markets, the D13TC engine has exceeded expectations and has proven to be fuel efficient, reliable and popular... Read more →

Nikola Corporation and TC Energy Corporation, a leading North American energy infrastructure company, have agreed to collaborate on co-developing, constructing, operating and owning large-scale hydrogen production facilities (hubs) in the United States and Canada. Nikola’s Energy business unit and TC Energy are actively collaborating to identify and ro develop projects... Read more →

Volvo Trucks received an order for 100 Volvo FM Electric trucks from DFDS, Northern Europe’s largest shipping and logistics company. The deal is the largest commercial order to date for Volvo electric trucks, and one of the largest yet for heavy electric trucks worldwide. First deliveries of the Volvo FM Electric... Read more →

BYD and Levo Mobility, a joint venture of Nuvve Holding Corp., affiliates of Stonepeak Partners LP, and Evolve Transition Infrastructure LP that provides Fleet-as-a-Service (FaaS) solutions enabling fleets to switch to electric vehicles rapidly, will partner to integrate Nuvve’s leading vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology with a mix of BYD battery electric... Read more →

Allison Transmission, a leading designer and manufacturer of conventional and electrified vehicle propulsion solutions for tactical wheeled and tracked defense vehicles and medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles is accelerating the development of electrification technology for integration into the US Army’s ground combat vehicle fleet including tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicles and... Read more →

The Mercedes-Benz powertrain plants in Germany are starting production of key components for the battery-powered eActros heavy-duty truck. These include the electric axle and the battery packs, which are produced and assembled at the plants in Gaggenau, Kassel and Mannheim. These components will be used for the series production of... Read more →

Hyattsville, Maryland, is deploying a BYD 6R Class 6 electric refuse truck, one of several fully-electric or hybrid vehicles in the City’s fleet, and the first commercially deployed Class 6 refuse truck in the country, according to BYD. The BYD 6R is capable of working an entire shift without recharging.... Read more →

Plus (formerly Plus.ai), a global provider of self-driving truck technology, has delivered the initial production batch of PlusDrive autonomous driving units to China-based FAW in order for FAW to integrate the units and launch China’s first driver-in autonomous trucks. The delivery is part of an agreement with FAW in which... Read more →

Allison Transmission and SAIC Hongyan Automotive Co., Ltd (formerly known as SIH Truck), a premium Chinese brand in the manufacturing, service and support of heavy-duty vehicles, signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which the two companies will integrate the Allison eGen Power 130D e-Axle into SAIC Hongyan’s regional... Read more →

Nikola Corporation and OPAL Fuels, a provider of renewable natural gas (RNG) and renewable fueling infrastructure for heavy-duty truck fleets, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on the development, construction, and operation of hydrogen fueling stations in North America and the use of renewable natural gas (RNG) in hydrogen... Read more →

A thermal management system developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with John Deere promises to increase the power density of silicon carbide (SiC) inverters within heavy-duty EV applications significantly. Recent studies indicate that the improved inverter design delivers a 378% increase in power density over the... Read more →

Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Aurora revealed a prototype of Volvo Trucks’ flagship, long-haul VNL model, integrated with the Aurora Driver technology, representing an important step towards launching fully autonomous Class 8 trucks commercially in North America. Building on a rich history of safety and technology expertise, Volvo Autonomous Solutions is... Read more →

Linde has joined the H2Accelerate collaboration as a seventh member to accelerate the deployment of green hydrogen for trucking (earlier post). The H2Accelerate collaboration was formed by truck OEMs Daimler Truck, IVECO, and Volvo Group, and hydrogen infrastructure players OMV, Shell, and TotalEnergies, to accelerate the deployment of green hydrogen... Read more →

Ricardo has won two UK Government-backed innovation competitions to develop novel solutions for heavy-duty vehicles focusing on improving efficiency and performance and reducing the cost of future electric trucks. Ricardo will be partnering with the University of Bath for both projects. For the first project, which is funded by the... Read more →

Embark Trucks, a developer of autonomous technology for the trucking industry, is collaborating with Cummins to accelerate the integration of next-generation truck components and controls in self-driving trucks. Under this collaboration, Embark is testing Cummins’ automated driving system (ADS) powertrain interface to manage powertrain operations. The integration of the platform-agnostic... Read more →

PACCAR has teamed up with Aurora, a leading autonomous driving technology company, and FedEx to launch a commercial pilot of autonomous trucks in linehaul trucking operations. This is the first collaboration of its kind between a truck manufacturer, an autonomous technology developer and a logistics provider. PACCAR’s autonomously enabled trucks... Read more →

Cummins announced that its hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) program is beginning development of a medium-duty 6.7-liter and a heavy-duty 15-liter engine. We’ve established significant goals as part of our PLANET 2050 sustainability strategy, including a target of zero emissions. Reducing well-to-wheels carbon emissions requires innovation of both energy sources... Read more →

A new total cost of ownership (TCO) study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) finds that battery-electric and fuel-cell electric commercial trucks could be economically competitive with conventional diesel trucks by 2025 in some operating scenarios. Spatial and Temporal Analysis of the Total Cost of Ownership for Class 8... Read more →

Allison Transmission, a leading designer and manufacturer of conventional, electric hybrid and fully electric vehicle propulsion solutions, and Jing-Jin Electric (JJE), a China-based electrified propulsion leader in components, assemblies and systems for global automotive and commercial vehicle customers, have signed a broad, global strategic collaboration partnership agreement to accelerate the... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems launched the FCmove-HD+ fuel cell module. FCmove-HD+ is designed for buses and medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and is the latest product in Ballard’s 8th generation heavy-duty power module portfolio. Ballard has been developing a family of FCmove products since 2019 to serve the commercial vehicle market. The... Read more →

Jacobs Vehicle Systems and Tula Technology have signed a cooperation agreement to accelerate the development of Jacobs Cylinder Deactivation (CDA) valve actuation technology in conjunction with Tula’s Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) control algorithms (earlier post). Cylinder Deactivation leverages Jacobs’ well-established componentry to disable engine valves in selected cylinders allowing a... Read more →

Romeo Power and Dynexus Technology, a provider of battery sensing solutions and data-driven battery intelligence, will collaborate to integrate Dynexus Technology’s actionable battery performance and health sensors into Romeo Power’s battery ecosystem. The technology developed by Dynexus will initially be utilized for incoming cell quality control and end-of-line verification, as... Read more →

TWAICE, a provider of predictive analytics software that optimizes the development and operation of lithium-ion batteries, and pepper motion GmbH (formerly etrofit), a company offering solutions for the electrification (retrofitting) of used and new commercial vehicles such as trucks in distribution transport, buses in local public transport (LPT) and municipal... Read more →

IVECO and Nikola formally unveiled the manufacturing facility in Ulm, Germany for Nikola Tre electric heavy-duty trucks; production will begin by year end. The first Nikola Tre models produced here will be delivered to select customers in the United States in 2022. On the occassion of the launch, the two... Read more →

Embark Trucks, a developer of self-driving software for the trucking industry (earlier post), announced a joint initiative with HP to combine electric and autonomous truck technology and create a more sustainable distribution network. The two companies launched an electric truck drayage pilot in the Los Angeles area, where local loads... Read more →

Rio Tinto and Caterpillar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Caterpillar’s development of zero-emissions autonomous haul trucks for use at one of Rio Tinto’s Western Australian mining operations. The collaboration will see Rio Tinto work with Caterpillar to advance the development of the manufacturer’s future 220-tonne 793 zero-emissions... Read more →

Rolls-Royce and Flanders Electric have agreed to develop a retrofit concept for hybridizing mining trucks that can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30%. It integrates mtu engines, batteries and hybrid control systems, and Flanders drive train solutions. The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding enabling them to... Read more →

A new working paper from the the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) estimates the order of magnitude in scale and pace of national infrastructure investment required to meet the goal of 100% sales of zero-emission tractor-trailers (Class 7 and Class 8)—battery-electric and fuel-cell electric—by 2040. For battery-electric trucks, the... Read more →

Aurora provided a first look at the Aurora-powered Volvo VNL—Volvo’s flagship long-haul truck, integrated with the Aurora Driver’s sensor suite. This prototype is the first of the Volvo VNL fleet to be designed to operate with the Aurora Driver and represents a significant step as Aurora and Volvo begin building... Read more →

Orange EV, a manufacturer of heavy-duty, electric vehicle (EV) truck solutions, announced its new intermodal terminal trucks, scheduled to be available Q3 2022, to meet the increased cargo handling and lifting demands required by port and rail intermodal operations. Orange EV’s T-Series Class 8 electric terminal trucks have been commercially... Read more →

Power management company Eaton’ Vehicle Group has partnered with Ballard Fuel Cell Systems and the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop heavy-duty truck fuel cell technology. The partnership is the result of a grant Eaton’s Vehicle Group received from the US Department of Energy to develop... Read more →

Loop Energy, a developer and manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cell-based solutions, is partnering with METTEM-M Ltd., a developer of vehicle control systems and systems integrator, to provide hydrogen electric powertrain solutions to commercial vehicle OEMs across Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and greater Europe. The companies’ first joint... Read more →

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation (A.4302/S.2758), setting a goal for all new passenger cars and trucks sold in New York State to be zero-emissions by 2035. In addition, the Governor directed the Department of Environmental Conservation to release the proposed Advanced Clean Truck regulation that would significantly reduce... Read more →

Ballard, a global leader in fuel cell technologies, and QUANTRON, a global leader in electric vehicle integration have formed a strategic partnership for the development of hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks. The combined, complementary expertise of Ballard and QUANTRON enables broader customer access to zero emissions fuel cell electric trucks... Read more →

In an online event from Seoul, Hyundai Motor Group presented plans to popularize hydrogen by 2040 through the introduction of new technologies and mobility solutions in transportation and other industrial sectors. The Group said it will electrify all new commercial vehicle models—featuring fuel cell electric or battery electric powertrains, as... Read more →

BYD unveiled two battery-electric heavy-duty trucks, the Gen3 8TT and 6F. Unveiled at the ACT Expo in Long Beach, Calif., the Gen 3 8TT and 6F feature cabs styled by Wolfgang Josef Egger, the former Audi chief designer. The stylish cabs offer improved aerodynamics and energy efficiency. The truck come... Read more →

Nikola Corporation, a developer of heavy-duty commercial battery-electric vehicles (BEV), fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and energy infrastructure solutions, announced agreements with the Bosch Group for Nikola Class 7 and 8 fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) which will enable Nikola to build the Bosch fuel-cell power modules at its Coolidge, Arizona facility.... Read more →

Performance Team – A Maersk Company, a warehousing and distribution company, has placed an order for 16 Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 trucks (earlier post)—the largest commercial order of the North American zero-tailpipe emission model to date. The VNR Electric model from Volvo Trucks North America is the first zero-tailpipe... Read more →

Dana Incorporated is expanding its Spicer Electrified e-Powertrain offerings to include a family of single and tandem e-Axles designed for a wide variety of Class 7 and 8 applications. The Spicer Electrified Zero-8 e-Axles complement Dana’s established heavy-duty electric-vehicle (EV) e-Propulsion systems, which are currently powering thousands of vehicles around... Read more →

Electric vehicle industry experts and scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are testing and evaluating the compatibility of inlet and connectors for a new high-power charging standard for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles called the Megawatt Charging System (MCS). MCS will facilitate charging capacity up to 3.75MW—seven times higher... Read more →

Allison Transmission has been selected by Hino Trucks as its e-Axle development partner for Class 6, 7 and 8 Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) trucks. The two companies have signed the framework behind a comprehensive strategic Joint Collaboration Agreement (JCA) that builds on the long-standing partnership Allison and Hino share in... Read more →