Unlike On-Road Trucks, Off-Highway Trucks are specifically designed to work in punishing environments and are made to haul material and debris around a work site. These purpose-built vehicles are not constrained by the weight limits of their smaller on-road counterparts.
Expect production to increase 5% by 2025 as the need for new equipment for mining operations increases. It is speculated that there will be growth in the excavation of iron ore, nickel and bauxite followed by gold and copper. PSR
Carol Turner is Senior Analyst, Global Operations, at Power Systems Research
Volvo has received authorization from the Ministry of Transportation to begin testing its heavy electric trucks in Brazil. The vehicles will be part of a study and will be able to operate in urban areas, metropolitan regions, and short to medium-distance intercity transportation, aiming to evaluate their performance and impact on pavement in this type of operation.
The transport companies ReiterLog and Ritmo Logística will be the first to operate the Volvo electric trucks. Preliminary results from the study, led by Senatran (National Traffic Department), with technical coordination from Inprotran (National Institute of Traffic and Safety Projects), in partnership with Volvo, Prometeon, UNB, and UFRGS, indicate benefits of operating zero-emission CO2 vehicles, such as high energy efficiency, absence of noise, low vibration levels, and increased driver comfort.
The 1,200 units is the estimate by Power Systems Research of the number of Off-Highway Trucks to be produced in North America (Canada and the U.S.) in 2020.
This information comes from industry interviews and from two proprietary databases maintained by Power Systems Research: EnginLink™ , which provides information on engines, and OE Link™, a database of equipment manufacturers.
The Hyundai Motor Group has announced its “Hydrogen Vision 2040,” which states that 2040 will be the first year of the popularization of hydrogen energy. The company plans to launch new models of all commercial vehicles, including heavy-duty trucks and buses, with hydrogen-electric and electric vehicles. The goal is to reduce the price of hydrogen-electric vehicles to the level of general electric vehicles by 2030 by developing a next-generation hydrogen fuel cell system that is inexpensive and has good performance.
The Hyundai Motor Group will not launch any new commercial vehicles powered by internal combustion engines in the future. It plans to mass-produce hydrogen-electric trucks in the country in the first half of next year and plans to apply hydrogen fuel cells to all of its commercial vehicle lineup by 2028.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) now requires shippers that transport a large volume of freight to set a target of using 5% electric light-duty trucks by FY2030, which includes EVs and fuel cell vehicles (CVs), but not hybrids.
They will also be required to submit periodic reports on their progress toward this target. If the efforts are significantly inadequate, the committee can make recommendations to shippers and publicly announce the names of the companies involved.
Of the 800 major manufacturers, retailers, and other companies with large annual transportation volumes, those that are also involved in their own transportation or those that request exclusive transportation from a specific company are eligible for the program.
PSR Analysis: The fact that hybrids are not included in this goal effectively means that the next-generation development of light-duty trucks has been narrowed down to BEVs or FCVs. However, FCVs still lack hydrogen stations, and the construction cost of hydrogen stations is higher than that of EV charging stations, so the shift to EVs will be promoted first. Light-duty trucks are numerous and can be said to be the artery of domestic logistics. With about seven years to go until 2030, the number of vehicles that will be replaced by EVs will increase every year. PSR
Akihiro Komuro is Research Analyst, Far East and Southeast Asia, for Power Systems Research
Like it did with passenger EV rebates in December, Germany has decided to pull the plug on subsidy programs for electric semi-trucks and city buses. What happens to the nation’s commercial EV market now?
When the German government established the funding program for climate-friendly commercial trucks in 2021, the subsidies were seen as a highly effective tool to drive up demand for electric vehicles in the medium- and heavy-duty truck markets.
We have heard during the past few years that battery electric commercial trucks will ultimately replace the diesel-powered internal combustion engine for commercial trucks. At some point in the future this might be true for short and regional haul freight carriers, but what about the long-haul heavy truck segment?
Currently, the lack of charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the extreme weights associated with the batteries will be a significant deterrent to mass adoption of long-haul battery electric trucks.
Move is opposed by Russian KAMAZ which plans to make similar machines.
Maxim Sakov
Market players have proposed canceling import taxes and utilization fees for commercial vehicles fueled by LNG until 2025. The target of the measure is the development of LNG-transport until the appearance of domestic analogs of such machinery.
The suggestion comes from foreign makers of LNG on-highway tractors and supported by Gazprom. Now, no imported vehicles are exempted from these taxes.
The import tax for on-highway tractors is 5% of their cost, and the utilization fee is 10 to 12K Euro. LNG tractor is more expensive than its diesel analog by about 35K Euro.
After selling 35 NG Trucks in Chile, Iveco announced the sale of 100 Stralis NP Cursor 13 NGs in Argentina for a supplier to O&G industry in the Southern country.
PSR Analysis: The acceptance from customers helps to remove a barrier to NG sales, transforming this technology from a Trend to a reality. NG was formerly more deployed in Buses than in Trucks. With the experience of fleet owners, the technology will gain scale rapidly in South America countries and accelerate the volumes in South American markets. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business Development South America for Power Systems Research
Volkswagen Trucks and Bus announced that it will return in January from collective vacations to resume production in two full shifts, marking a return to a pre-April status.
Since April, alternating worker groups have managed the production line and remote work, with workers undergoing training courses during off-duty periods. This measure was essential due to a 37.8% decline in truck production and a 35.2% decrease in bus chassis production from January to October.
From January onwards, production will resume at full capacity, assuming positive market expectations.
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