100 Nikola Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles Ordered

Nikola Corporation, a global leader in zero-emissions transportation, energy supply and infrastructure solutions, and IVECO, the brand of Iveco Group that designs, manufactures, and markets heavy, medium, and light-duty trucks, have announced a Letter of Intent for an order of 100 Class 8, heavy-duty Nikola Tre hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) from GP JOULE, a system provider for integrated energy solutions based in Reussenkoege, Germany. The Nikola Tre FCEVs in the European 6×2 variant will be manufactured by the joint venture between Nikola and Iveco Group at the site created in Ulm, Germany.

Thirty of the initial 100 Nikola Tre FCEVs are expected to be delivered to GP JOULE within 2024. This will be followed by the delivery of the remaining 70 vehicles in 2025, with the possibility for GP JOULE to acquire them through GATE – Green & Advanced Transport Ecosystem – Iveco Group’s all-inclusive electric truck rental model. IVECO will provide the essential maintenance and service functions. GP JOULE will make the 100 Nikola trucks available to its customers in transport and logistics. The order is subject to GP JOULE’s successful application for KsNI funding, Germany’s program to support the acquisition of vehicles with alternative, climate-friendly powertrains. Furthermore, starting in 2026, GP JOULE and Iveco Group have agreed to market additional FCEVs to customers in Europe. GP JOULE will provide them with 100% green hydrogen via their hydrogen refuelling station network.

Michael Lohscheller, President and CEO, Nikola Corporation, said, “The order from GP JOULE will be an example of how the Nikola Tre FCEV can further support commercial customers in Germany in their transition towards zero-emissions several years ahead of other OEMs, which helps to achieve the goal of decarbonising the transportation sector.”

Andre Steinau, Managing Director at GP JOULE HYDROGEN, declared: “100% renewable energy for all, this is what drives us. Together with Nikola and IVECO, we offer our customers all the components for climate-neutral heavy-duty transport from a single source: from the production and purchase of green hydrogen to the hydrogen filling stations to the fuel cell trucks and service that meet their needs. This is the easy entry into emission-free freight transport.”

Simone Olivati, President, Financial Services, Iveco Group commented: “We are very pleased by the choice of GP JOULE and that with this agreement, thanks to our innovative GATE rental model, we will bring hydrogen mobility to customers in Germany and progress on the decarbonisation of road freight transport. GATE is dedicated to meeting the needs of both battery and hydrogen fuel cell electric commercial vehicle customers, initially serving both the IVECO and Nikola brands. This agreement is a chance to start offering our comprehensive service based on a pay-per-use formula that will allow customers access to the propulsion of tomorrow.”

Nikola Corporation is globally transforming the transportation industry. As a designer and manufacturer of zero-emission battery-electric and hydrogen-electric vehicles, electric vehicle drivetrains, vehicle components, energy storage systems, and hydrogen station infrastructure, Nikola is driven to revolutionize the economic and environmental impact of commerce as we know it today. Founded in 2015, Nikola Corporation is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

DB Schenker to Deploy MAN eTrucks

DB Schenker, one of the world’s leading logistics service providers, has signed an agreement with commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus to become the first customer to adopt the new MAN eTruck. DB Schenker will add 100 new MAN low liner and swap body trucks to its fleet by 2026. The first vehicles are to be handed over in the first half of 2024.

Cyrille Bonjean, Head of Land Transport at DB Schenker Europe, said: “We want to build up practical experience with e-trucks as early as possible. In this way, we can quickly create an offer for the business community to make supply chains more climate-friendly. That’s why it was important for us to receive the first MAN eTrucks. This brings us another step closer to our goal to be net zero on the road in land transport by 2040.”

“DB Schenker and MAN are embarking together on the road to an electric future. We are very pleased to have our first customer for the new eTruck. Demand in the market for this all-electric vehicle is already enormous. The topic is now really taking off, partly because more and more of our customers are setting extremely ambitious decarbonization targets. This has a direct impact on logistics chains. However, we will only succeed in achieving a sustainable mobility turnaround in heavy goods traffic with the appropriate political support. Among other things, this relates to the rapid development of the charging infrastructure and also the further design of the funding framework for the acquisition of electric trucks,” said Alexander Vlaskamp, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus.

eTruck from Munich

The first MAN eTrucks will be produced in a small series in the first half of 2024 on the production line at the company’s headquarters in Munich. With the signing of the agreement, DB Schenker is the first pilot customer for these eTrucks. The logistics service provider wants to gain practical experience with the product as early as possible. This also includes setting up its own charging infrastructure, intelligent route planning, and other digital services from MAN Digital Solutions such as eManager, ServiceCare, and MAN Driver App. DB Schenker is therefore supported by 360° consulting from MAN Transport Solutions, including route analysis, charging strategy, charging infrastructure planning, and energy demand optimization.

The first MAN eTrucks for DB Schenker in 2024 will be volume semitrailer tractors, so-called ultra-semitrailer tractors. The reduced semitrailer height of around 950 mm makes it possible to transport volume trailers with an interior height of 3 meters electrically. The other electric trucks to be delivered in 2025 and 2026 are planned as ultra-semitrailer tractors and swap body trucks.

 

World Premiere of Hydrogen-powered Truck in Hamburg

Clean Logistics has presented its first hydrogen-powered zero-emission truck to the public, in Hamburg. With ‘fyuriant’, Clean Logistics is heralding a new era in the field of environmentally friendly solutions for road freight transport and reaching another important milestone in its corporate history. Last summer, the company handed over the first converted bus with fuel cell hydrogen drive in public transportation in Europe. This is now also possible for heavy semi-trailer tractors of 40 tons.

The trucks boast ground-breaking technology. The first fyuriant is equipped, among other things, with two hydrogen fuel cells with 2×120 kW output and hydrogen tanks with a volume of 43 kg. This ensures a sufficiently high range of over 400 km and short refuelling times of less than 15 minutes. The rear axle, which is equipped with wheel hub motors, has a maximum torque of 17,000 Nm, which provides the truck with the appropriate power in any driving situation. The intelligent control system developed in- house by Clean Logistics enables an efficient control of the overall system in every driving situation. The energy recovered during braking, for instance, is temporarily stored in a battery and made available again for the next acceleration.

Dirk Graszt, CEO of Clean Logistics: “We are very excited to present our fyuriant today. The truck is an important milestone in the decarbonization of the transport sector in Germany and Europe. With our trucks and buses, we meet with a high response in the industry. This is because we are now already able to make zero-emission vehicles available to the market. Thanks to the conversion of classic diesel vehicles to zero- emission hydrogen vehicles, this is, moreover, being done in a resource-friendly manner. In this way, we will rapidly drive the transformation of mobility into a sustainable future.”

The project is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport as part of the implementation of the Federal Government’s Mobility and Fuel Strategy (MFS) with a total of around EUR 3.3 million. The funding measure is coordinated by NOW GmbH. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry for its support – without the funding, the prototype development, which represents the cornerstone for our further growth, would not have been possible,” emphasizes Dirk Graszt.

As part of the fyuriant world premiere, with its extraordinary visual design, Clean Logistics also unveiled its new corporate identity. This visual realignment is accompanied amongst other things by a new corporate design, a revised web presence and a new corporate logo. Clean Logistics thus underlines its positioning as a visionary and sustainable company with the ambition to lead heavy goods vehicle traffic into an emission-free future.

“By sharpening the purpose and the vision of Clean Logistics, the future viability of the company is underscored. This is the next logical step in the development of the entire Clean Logistics Group,” says Tom George, COO of Clean Logistics SE.

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