Volkswagen Dumps $1.7 Billion Into Development of Electric Buses, Commercial Trucks
Having already dropped itself into an ocean of electric car R&D, Volkswagen is now making plans to develop battery-powered commercial vehicles aimed at servicing urban areas where public officials are having night terrors about air quality.
Jürgen Stackmann, VW’s board member responsible for sales and marketing, promised the company would be at “full steam” on EV production and development by 2020. That includes a battery-only option for “all styles and body types” by 2030, according to Stackmann. But the brand wants to have something similar on the table for trucks and buses before then.
Volkswagen Truck & Bus is investing 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) into new electric drivetrains for use in both medium and heavy-duty distribution transport and city buses. While that development will go toward European vehicles initially, VW and strategic partner Navistar will use the “e-drivetrain” platform on U.S.-based electric trucks from 2019 onwards.
The company says a battery-powered truck, called the e-Delivery, will make its way to Brazilian assembly lines in 2020. However, the German manufacturer’s MAN and Scania brands will both deliver entirely electric buses to European cities before this year’s end. “The e-Delivery marks a milestone in the history of Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus (Trucks and Buses),” said Roberto Cortes, CEO of MAN Latin America, in a statement. “This is a brand-new platform that was developed in Brazil with the aim of offering new mobility alternatives to large cities.”
If VW Group can adhere to its proposed timelines, it would place it in very a good position to compete with Tesla, Daimler, and Volvo Trucks’ attempts to deliver similar electrified long haulers. But Volkswagen isn’t satisfied with delivering on electric powertrains — it also wants to design autonomous driving technology that’s focused on closed environments.
By narrowing its scope, the company could get a jump on rivals pursuing similar self-driving systems. Navigating through unpredictable traffic and endless roadways is a tall order, so VW’s initial autonomous vehicles will be things like transportation shuttles, highway maintenance vehicles, and airport-based tractors. By keeping things in a more stagnant environment, the automaker thinks it can get the first self-driving models out within two years.
Of course, the end goal is to build up to fully autonomous trucking fleets capable of making it cross-country. To that end, MAN will work with logistic experts at DB Schenker to test a convoy of connected trucks on the A9 autobahn in the spring of 2018. The theory of “platooning” the vehicles together allows the lead truck to set the course and pace via a human driver while the remaining vehicles follow autonomously.
“Platooning is the first step towards automated driving on public roads,” Andreas Renschler, CEO of Volkswagen Truck & Bus, explained. “The next step will involve enabling truck convoys comprising different brands to operate in platoon formation. As part of this process, Scania and MAN will join forces under the Volkswagen Truck & Bus umbrella to pioneer technology and develop standards that will shape the future of the entire industry.”
[Images: Volkswagen AG]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
More by Matt Posky
Comments
Join the conversation
And when they get done spending billions of deutschmarks, BEVs will still be niche market vehicles of limited utility, primarily useful to relatively prosperous suburb dwellers as 2nd or 3rd car commute vehicles. Useless for sustained long distance travel, and chained by the laws of physics to either excruciatingly slow, or painfully inefficient fast, charging cycles.
Daimler's Mitsubishi Fuso e-Canter is already here. Urban/suburban delivery box truck with ~80 mile EPA range. Real-world in slow-moving urban traffic will probably be better tho; speed is what kills EV range, especially when you're rocking the aerodynamics of an 8' wide, 10' tall brick.