General Motors and Autocar have signed a joint development agreement to create a range of zero tailpipe emissions vocational vehicles powered by GM’s HYDROTEC power cubes. (Earlier post.) Autocar, a market leader in customized vocational trucks, views this initiative as an important expansion in offering robust, zero tailpipe emissions solutions... Read more →

Rio Tinto will replace its entire fossil diesel consumption with renewable diesel at its Kennecott copper operation in Utah from 2024. Kennecott’s fleet of 90 haul trucks and all heavy machinery will begin to transition to renewable diesel in the first quarter of 2024, along with consumption from the concentrator,... Read more →

Stäubli Electrical Connectors, a leading global manufacturer of electrical connector solutions, has completed its agreement with SSA Terminals, LLC, a joint venture with Matson Navigation Company, to provide EV automated charging connections for 33 terminal tractors at the Port of Long Beach, California. (Earlier post.) Stäubli’s QCC Automated Connection Device... Read more →

Forum Mobility, a leading freight electrification provider, announced a new heavy-duty truck charging depot in the Port of Long Beach. This new depot will provide high-speed charging infrastructure for hundreds of drayage trucks per day, supporting the transition of the state’s drayage fleet to zero-emission. Drayage carriers are already reserving... Read more →

Series production of the Renault Trucks has begun series production of the heavy-duty electric E-Tech T and C trucks at the Bourg-en-Bresse plant. The site has been assembling the brand’s trucks for 60 years. Dedicated to regional distribution and urban construction, these vehicles are the latest addition to the manufacturer’s... Read more →

Range Energy, a company bringing powered trailers to the commercial trucking market (earlier post), announced preliminary third-party testing results showing its technology enables up to 36.3% fuel efficiency gains (+3.25 MPG) for semi-trucks. Testing was conducted on a 25.5-mile urban/highway loop at approximately 59,000 lbs. GVW and 60 MPH top... Read more →

Norway-based Applied Hydrogen AS, a developer of hydrogen-powered equipment and refueling systems for the construction industry, and Ballard Power Systems are partnering on the development of a new zero-emission fuel cell excavator, incorporating Ballard’s FCmove-XD 120kW fuel cell engine. Supported by Enova, an enterprise of the Norwegian Ministry of Climate... Read more →

4 Gen Logistics, a trailblazer in sustainable logistics solutions, is making remarkable progress towards its commitment to operating a 100% zero-tailpipe emissions drayage fleet by 2025. The company is excited to announce the launched of construction for the first phase of the installation of 60 350 kW chargers at its... Read more →

Aurora Innovation opened the industry’s first lane for driverless trucks supported by commercial-ready terminals in Dallas and Houston. Nearly half of all truck freight in Texas moves along the I-45 between Dallas and Houston, making this corridor an ideal route for Aurora’s commercial launch. Similar to its first terminal in... Read more →

TeraWatt Infrastructure announced the groundbreaking of its heavy duty electric vehicle (EV) charging site based in Rancho Dominguez, California. (Earlier post.)Located less than 15 miles north of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the site is strategically positioned to support sustainable trucking fleet operations in and out of... Read more →

Loblaw Companies Limited, the largest food and pharmacy retailer in Canada with well-known consumer brands and banners including President’s Choice, No Name, No Frills and Maxi, has deployed two Volvo VNR Electric trucks to service its grocery stores in the Greater Montréal Area. The Class 8 Volvo VNR Electric was... Read more →

The first Mercedes-Benz eActros 300 semitrailer tractor delivered in Germany has gone to Logistik Schmitt. Ronald Ott, Head of Sales Trucks Mercedes-Benz and FUSO Germany, handed over the small series produced e-truck to Rainer Schmitt, Managing Partner of Logistik Schmitt. The family-owned company based in Bietigheim, Baden-Württemberg, will initially use... Read more →

Grocery wholesaler United Natural Foods, Inc. is deploying two battery-electric semi-trucks and five regenerative electric refrigerated trailer systems. UNFI is deploying the trucks and trailers in the Sacramento and Gilroy, California markets, just in time for the peak holiday selling season. UNFI’s new zero-emission refrigerated delivery system on route to... Read more →

BMW Group Logistik, in collaboration with the technology innovator Trailer Dynamics, has successfully tested an electrically powered semi-trailer on various tracks and over varying distances in real-world logistics operations. With the diesel truck used, average fuel savings of more than 46% over short and medium distances, and more than 48%... Read more →

Hyzon Motors, a hydrogen fuel cell technology developer and global supplier of zero-emission heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), announced the commercial trial deployment of its first Heavy Rigid fuel cell electric waste collection truck to Remondis Australia, one of the world’s largest recycling, service, and water companies. The commercial... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board CARB) released a report showing that truck manufacturers are exceeding targeted sales of zero-emissions vehicles and are now two years ahead of schedule. The annual report tracks how manufacturers are achieving CARB’s regulation that established a phased-in transition toward the sale of 100% zero-emissions medium-... Read more →

Isuzu Motors and Honda Motor will exhibit the GIGA FUEL CELL, a fuel cell-powered heavy-duty truck currently being co-developed by the two companies (earlier post), at the Isuzu Group booth at the JAPAN MOBILITY SHOW 2023. This will be the first time the GIGA FUEL CELL will be shown to... Read more →

Market research firm IDTechEx suggests that the adoption of the Megawatt Charging System (MCS) for electric trucks (earlier post) can potentially reduce the need for hydrogen fuel cell trucks. The MCS, a fast-charging system for large battery electric vehicles, is capable of charging at a maximum rate of 3.75 megawatts... Read more →

Hydrogen Vehicle Systems (HVS) has unveiled its modular HGV platform that provides a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain with medium- and high-power e-axles, up to three hydrogen tanks and two power outputs. The modular platform is built on a fixed wheelbase, which means the vehicle’s footprint does not change, irrespective of... Read more →

Westport Fuel Systems announced the successful completion of a heavy transport demonstration with its H2 HPDI fuel system equipped prototype truck hauling a refrigerated trailer in Madrid, Spain. The demo marks the first of its kind in Spain. The Westport H2 HPDI fuel system-equipped demonstration truck unloading fresh freight at... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz Trucks unveiled the series version of its battery-electric long-haul eActros 600. The high battery capacity of more than 600 kWh—hence the model designation 600—and a new, particularly efficient electric drive axle developed in-house, enable the e-truck to achieve a range of 500 kilometers (311 miles) without intermediate charging. Therefore,... Read more →

Volvo Trucks North America has unveiled the company’s SuperTruck 2. The SuperTruck 2 program, a public-private partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE), tasked OEMs with achieving a 100% freight efficiency improvement over their submitted 2009 baseline. DOE’s SuperTruck 2 program promotes research and development to improve the freight-... Read more →

Altilium, a UK-based clean technology group, is partnering with Lunaz, Europe’s largest upcycling and vehicle electrification business, to develop a low-carbon logistical solution for the safe transportation and discharging of end-of-life EV batteries. The project, which has received funding from the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF), is the latest addition to... Read more →

Development engineers from Mercedes-Benz Trucks have successfully completed a test run across the Alps with the battery electric eActros 600 for long-distance haulage (earlier post). The engineers drove the prototype, which had been loaded up to 40 tons, from Stuttgart to Bolzano in South Tyrol via the steep rise to... Read more →

Perkins announced the development of the Perkins 2600 Series, a new 13-liter diesel engine platform designed to achieve best-in-class power density, torque and fuel efficiency for heavy duty off-highway applications. Targeting applications in agriculture, construction, and numerous other sectors, the new platform extends Perkins leadership in high-performing, mid-sized engines with... Read more →

Freightliner is working with Cummins to offer the new Cummins X15N natural gas engine (earlier post) in its heavy-duty Freightliner Cascadia trucks. The X15N is the first natural gas engine to be designed specifically for heavy-duty and on-highway truck applications, with 400 to 500 hp and 1,450 to 1,850 lb-ft... Read more →

Australia-based is forming a JV to bring to market a new hydrogen injection technology that can be used to reduce diesel and gasoline fuel usage in passenger, commercial and stationary engines. UHL plans to target heavy diesel vehicles, such as trucks, buses, vans, utes, cement trucks and waste collection vehicles... Read more →

A public road approved prototype of the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck completed Daimler Truck’s #HydrogenRecordRun covering 1,047 km of distance driven with one fill of liquid hydrogen. Powered by a cellcentric fuel-cell system and equipped with a liquid hydrogen fuel tank system, the run started 25 September in the afternoon at... Read more →

Logistics company Rheinkraft International (RKI) has taken delivery of a hydrogen-engined 18-tonne truck from KEYOU (earlier post). RKI’s end customer is one of the world’s largest steel producers. We want to boldly and actively shape the necessary change in road freight transport. In addition to their own sustainability efforts, our... Read more →

ZF’s latest version of its concept to electrify the trailer will be on show at the NUFAM commercial vehicles trade show in Karlsruhe (Germany). The ZF electrified trailer solution is made possible by integrating ZF’s AxTrax 2 electric axle with a modular battery system box for recuperation and traction support.... Read more →

Volvo Trucks North America customer Coke Canada Bottling Limited (Coke Canada Bottling) has unveiled its first Volvo VNR Electric trucks. The trucks are part of a six-truck pilot of electric vehicles to service the bottler’s Red Fleet customer delivery routes throughout the Greater Montreal Area. Coke Canada Bottling was the... Read more →

Battle Motors unveiled its California EV (Electric Vehicle) refuse truck, the 3-axle LET2 (Low Entry Tilt 2), featuring the Heil Rapid Rail Automated Side Loader Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV). With an 8.67-ton legal payload capacity, Battle Motors’s truck reduces waste collection trips on a 3-axle configuration, reducing road congestion and... Read more →

Nikola Corporation, a manufacturer of hydrogen-fuel-cell and battery-electric heavy-duty trucks, announced an expansion of its dealer network into Canada for its Class 8 truck sales and service coverage with the addition of ITD Industries Inc., a commercial trailer manufacturer and technology business headquartered in Toronto, ON. ITD has more than... Read more →

Volvo Trucks is ramping up electric truck volumes and is starting serial production of heavy battery electric trucks at the Ghent factory in Belgium. This means that electric Volvo trucks are now built in four factories: three in Europe and one in the US. Three different electric models will be... Read more →

Cemex Germany continues to invest in more sustainable transport for its products. The building materials company has taken delivery of two all-electric iONTRON mixer trucks from Putzmeister, which will become part of the Berlin truck mixer fleet. iONTRON is the brand name for Putzmeister electrified products; the lineup includes the... Read more →

A team of MIT researchers led by William H. Green, the Hoyt Hottel Professor in Chemical Engineering, is developing a technology that allows liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) not only to deliver hydrogen to the trucks, but also to store the hydrogen onboard. Their findings were recently published in the... Read more →

Accelera by Cummins, the zero-emissions business unit of Cummins; Daimler Trucks & Buses US Holding LLC [a Daimler Truck Group Company]; and PACCAR are partnering to accelerate and localize battery cell production and the battery supply chain in the United States. The planned joint venture will manufacture battery cells for... Read more →

Volvo has delivered three heavy-duty line-haul electric trucks to Danfoss. The e-trucks will operate in fixed routes between Danfoss sites in Denmark, and one of the trucks will operate 24 hours a day, five days per week, without significant charging downtime. The delivery of the three e-trucks is part of... Read more →

Ballard and Quantron AG have been developing fuel cell electric commercial vehicle platforms in a partnership since September 2021. (Earlier post.) Now the two partners have delivered their first fuel cell electric vehicles, combining QUANTRON’s vehicle engineering expertise with Ballard’s fuel cell technology. QUANTRON QLI FCEV light truck The core... Read more →

Cologne Bonn Airport has switched to Neste MY Renewable Diesel in its diesel-powered ground fleet. Neste’s renewable diesel (also known as HVO100) is made from 100% renewable raw materials, and it is in particular used for powering large and heavy vehicles such as the airport’s fire trucks, which are not... Read more →

Working with mining machinery is associated with a wide variety of hazards. Collisions between excavators, dump trucks, or caterpillar trucks and people or obstacles are a common cause of accidents. To avoid accidents the drivers must always have the entire area surrounding the vehicle in view. This causes constant stress... Read more →

Volvo Trucks launched its customer-focused Turnkey Solutions program, a consolidated fleet management process for procuring vendor services, parts, and products for electric vehicle (EV) charging, in addition to outlook planning for incentives, installation, and interfacing with utility companies to streamline solutions for electric vehicle infrastructure development. The Turnkey Solutions electromobility... Read more →

Volvo Trucks North America is working with Linde Canada Inc., a leading industrial gas and engineering company, in an exclusive, one-time pilot, importing five Volvo FH LNG (liquified natural gas) powered trucks to Canada. Volvo Trucks first launched the LNG product offering in 2017 with serial production beginning in 2018... Read more →

Mack Trucks, one of North America’s largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, has selected the Allison 4500 Rugged Duty Series (RDS) as the exclusive transmission currently offered for its new compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered Mack Granite model. The 4500 RDS fully automatic transmission has been offered in the Mack Granite diesel... Read more →

Hexagon Purus, a manufacturer of zero-emission mobility and infrastructure solutions, signed a long-term agreement with a major North American OEM to provide complete vehicle integration of battery-electric vocational trucks in North America. The scope of this agreement is for complete vehicle integration of battery electric vocational trucks with Hexagon Purus’... Read more →

A team from Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology and FPT Motorenforschung reports in an open-access paper in the journal Fuel on the performance and emission characteristics of an 11-liter heavy-duty compression ignition engine which was optimized specifically for DME (dimethyl ether) combustion. The DME engine... Read more →

Israel-based Foresight Autonomous Holdings, a developer of automotive vision systems, has signed a paid proof-of-concept (POC) project with the Chinese subsidiary of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial equipment, heavy machinery, construction and mining equipment. The Fortune 500 company will evaluate Foresight’s QuadSight technology to provide autonomous capabilities... Read more →

Nikola provided the preliminary results of third-party and internal investigations into a previously reported battery pack thermal event in its Class 8 Tre battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). As a precautionary measure, the company announced a voluntary recall of approximately 209 Class 8 Tre battery-electric vehicles (BEVs). Nikola is currently in the... Read more →

Ballard Power Systems signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Ford Trucks to supply a fuel cell system as part of the development of a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle prototype. The partnership includes an initial purchase order for two FCmove-XD 120 kW fuel cell engines that are planned to... Read more →

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a $12-million initiative to support the development and demonstration of innovative, replicable solutions that advance electric vehicle adoption and the integration of electric vehicles with the electric grid. (PON 5354) The initiative also seeks to support novel demonstrations of medium- and heavy-duty electric and... Read more →