Sustainable drive solutions: Focus on e-mobility and alternative fuels

Transcription

1 Sustainable drive solutions: Focus on e-mobility and alternative fuels Volkswagen Truck & Bus has set itself the goal of occupying the top spot in the field of alternative drivetrains. And it is in an excellent position to do so, with its wide-ranging portfolio of solutions that are already available. Braunschweig, October 11, 2017 There is no doubt that bits and bytes are rapidly and fundamentally changing the transportation sector and will certainly reduce its impact on the environment. However, they will never be able to actually power a truck or bus. Wide range of specific solutions To reach the top spot in alternative drivetrains in the future, Volkswagen Truck & Bus has to bring about the following in practice: Volkswagen Truck & Bus has to provide the best solution for sustainable, climate-friendly and eventually CO 2 -emission-free transportation, wherever demanded by customers and required or permitted by the political landscape. etgm for emission-free distribution services Traffic in cities is one of the focal points in the debate on pollutant emissions and the climate, with the aim being for vehicles to run with zero local emissions in the future. It is common knowledge that e-mobility offers the best solution for achieving this. One of the contributions that Volkswagen Truck & Bus can make to reduce pollution levels in urban environments is already available as a prototype: Working in cooperation with the Austrian CNL (Council for Sustainable Logistics), MAN has further developed its TGM distribution truck, creating the etgm, which will be brought onto our roads in the near future: We plan to deliver the first nine fully electric trucks to our customers in Austria by the end of 2017 including large supermarket chains, breweries and haulers. Electric drives and distribution are a match made in heaven: The drives are quiet, do not produce any emissions locally and are a perfect fit for customers requirements. Equally, demand for these types of vehicles has been on the rise. We will be launching the first small set of vehicles on the market at the end of 2018 says Joachim Drees, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus. e-delivery trucks nearly ready for the market This is proof that the technology developed by Volkswagen Truck & Bus is nearly ready for the market. It now needs to be thoroughly tested together with the customer, in line with Volkswagen Truck & Bus s philosophy. The etgm is scheduled to go into series production in Demand Page 1 of 6

2 is already buoyant. These customers will be served via a mini-series which is planned before the start of large-scale production. MAN buses with CNG and hybrid technology Volkswagen Truck & Bus already offers a wide range of options for alternative drivetrains for buses. For example, MAN can look back on over 70 years of experience in gas-powered buses and is very successful in this segment: MAN has headed the field of city buses with CNG drivetrains for years now, says CEO Joachim Drees, adding: With its recent average market share of nearly 40 percent, MAN has more experience in this technology than any other competitor. Moreover, with its MAN Lion s City Hybrid which has been on the market since 2010, MAN offers a drive system with particularly low emissions which means that it is an optimum solution for regular urban bus services. This hybrid bus consumes up to 30 percent less fuel, saving up to 10,000 liters of diesel per year. Wide choice of alternatively powered buses from Scania Scania also offers a very wide choice of city buses for use with alternative fuels. For some time now, the Volkswagen Truck & Bus brand has been supplying engines that can be powered by a diverse range of fuels, such as natural gas, biogas, ethanol, biodiesel, and HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil). Scania s portfolio now also includes hybrid buses. Purely electrically powered city buses in series production by 2020 To reduce local emissions in urban areas to zero, MAN and Scania are highly active in the area of e-mobility, as well as urban passenger transportation services. Starting next year, pre-series versions of a purely electrically powered battery electric bus (BEV) will be field-tested in a number of European cities under everyday conditions. MAN and Scania will commence series production of a 100 percent electrically-driven city bus before Both brands already provide operators and local authorities with support in the form of comprehensive advice on introducing e-mobility solutions, including the necessary charging requirements of e-buses. Multi-pronged approach with charging systems The key points in e-mobility creating the biggest barriers to progress are battery life in terms of range, availability, and durability, as well as the availability of adequate charging facilities, explains Joachim Drees, with respect to specific issues on which developers are focusing. Volkswagen Truck & Bus is working hard to drive forward the technology, particularly with a view to these aspects. This means that the Group is not restricting itself to a single charging system, but is exploring various options (overnight charging at depots or interim charging at bus stops via pantographs) together with operators of local mass transit buses. Page 2 of 6

3 Group-wide project: e-drivetrain Electromobility is ranked so high on the agenda at Volkswagen Truck & Bus that an internal cooperation has been formed, under the generic name of e-drivetrain. This joint venture adopts a global focus specifically on electric drive trains. The shared e-drivetrain for the Group is designed as a modular element with the aim of driving all future distribution trucks and city buses developed by the Volkswagen Truck & Bus brands. Volkswagen Truck & Bus cooperation partner, Navistar, will also benefit from this work, as it will implement this e-drivetrain from Volkswagen Truck & Bus in its new electric distribution trucks as the first application of the jointly developed module. MAN and Scania will also integrate this technology in its future generations of vehicles. Commercial vehicles of the entire Group will be fitted with this powertrain in future, says Andreas Renschler, which is a huge advantage of our brands and customers alike, as they can count on getting the best electric powertrain available for their vehicle, truck, or bus. Alternative drivetrains for heavy-duty trucks Conventional drivetrains will still be needed for a while yet, especially in the area of long-haul transportation. We still need the conventional combustion engine for a while yet, because of its output, efficiency, and range, but thanks to our Euro VI engines, emissions are reduced to nearzero, says CEO Andreas Renschler. However, as far as fuel is concerned, diesel still has to be used in long-haul transportation and in heavy-duty distribution transport. We believe in offering a broad range of alternative fuels, adds Andreas Renschler. The big handicap in long-haul transportation and the heavy category is that load capacity would be disproportionately affected given the amount of energy required. What is more, range and charging cycles are not yet within acceptable values for customers. Yet this has not deterred Volkswagen Truck & Bus from working on solutions for the segment, focusing on special applications not previously expected of a mass production manufacturer, in addition to stepping up development work on new even more fuel-efficient combustion engines. LNG perfectly suited for long-haul transportation A promising solution with great future potential for long-haul transportation is to power engines with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Compared with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which is excellently suited to distribution transportation, gas drivetrains are far quieter and therefore permissible for night-time deliveries. In addition, LNG significantly increases the range of trucks since more gas can be carried onboard the vehicle. Volkswagen Truck & Bus very familiar with LNG technology The prospects of this technology for long-haul transportation are good, especially given that the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain encourage this form of power, and Volkswagen Truck & Bus is very familiar with the technology. Scania delivered the first EURO VI LNG truck back in 2014, says Page 3 of 6

4 CEO Henrik Henriksson, when referring to the pioneering role played by Volkswagen Truck & Bus which is now launching LNG technology on a larger scale: A month ago, Scania started a broadbased LNG campaign, together with Volkswagen Group Logistics. The campaign aims to roll this technology out in Germany as well. Many customers, especially in the Netherlands, are already using Scania LNG trucks for their long-haul transportation needs and are benefiting from ranges of up to 1,000 km. e-technology in long-haul transportation without the handicap of batteries Initiatives are also under way to find solutions for electrifying heavy trucks differently, so that e- technology can be used for long-haul traffic without having to implement heavy batteries. The buzzword for this area of development is e-road, which focuses on the use of overhead power lines, as in the rail sector. The advantage of powering trucks by overhead lines, provided the corresponding infrastructure exists, is that the trucks can run on electric power with zero emissions, and any available batteries can be charged for a specific number of onward emissionfree kilometers. Test sections of road, including e-road infrastructure, are already available in Sweden; and now the Federal Environment Ministry has announced test sections in Germany, in the area around Frankfurt, Lübeck, and in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. e-mobility in light-duty distribution transportation The Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand is also well-positioned in the area of light-duty distribution transportation, including last mile delivery services. Its portfolio includes the ecrafter van, a conventional but electrified transporter van, which is capable of up to approx. 200 km on a single charge. It will soon go into series production. ecrafter: Load capacity of up to 1.7 tonnes As a 3.5-tonne van, the ecrafter offers a load capacity of 1 tonne, but with a total permitted weight of 4.25 tonnes, which means it will probably be allowed to be driven with a car license thanks to a change in the driving license law, the van can even carry 1.75 tonnes. The market is sizable: As revealed in a recent survey, says Dr. Eckhard Scholz, CEO of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, the vast majority of our customers drive average distances of between 70 and 175 km per day. VW I.D. Buzz Cargo: Big shout out for the electrified van The VW I.D. Buzz Cargo van is also being developed as a compact electrified van with similar loading capacity as a transporter van. With its striking similarities in design with the classic VW Bulli, this concept has been really well received by customers since it was launched, says Dr. Eckhard Scholz, referring to the overwhelmingly positive response to this special vehicle. Page 4 of 6

5 Zero emissions for the last mile The VW I.D. Buzz Cargo is the ideal vehicle for short-haul or last mile delivery services, and will also be capable of autonomous driving in the future. The VW I.D. Buzz Cargo will also be the perfect smaller variant of the ecrafter given its overall tonnage and requisite payload. However, it will be a while yet before the VW I.D. Buzz Cargo hits the road. Series production is scheduled to start in Complete e-range in distribution transportation for Europe Together with its brands, Volkswagen Truck & Bus will have a complete range of e-vehicles to offer the European market in the near future. World first for e-delivery With the fast-growing emerging economies in mind, another electrically driven distribution truck has been developed which has its world premiere under the model designation Volkswagen e- Delivery at the Innovation Day The e-delivery is a light and modern truck for urban logistics with zero emission and extremely low noise level to improve sustainability in urban delivery of goods. It will be built at Volkswagen Caminhões e Onibus in Brazil as of Antonio Roberto Cortes, CEO of MAN Latin America says, The e-delivery represents a milestone in the history of Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus. It is a totally new platform, developed in Brazil, in search of alternatives for mobility in the big cities. Range of up to 200 km The e-delivery is the first purely electrically-powered truck developed in Brazil. It is designed for a total weight of 9 tonnes to 11 tonnes. Its lithium-ion batteries offer a range of up to 200 km. The electric engine is being specially developed by for use in commercial vehicles and will have a nominal power of 80 kw (around 110 PS) and maximum torque of 493 Nm. Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG and a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer worldwide with its MAN, Scania, and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, and RIO brands. In 2016, Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH s brands sold around 184,000 vehicles in total. Its offering comprises light-duty commercial vehicles, trucks, and buses which are produced at 25 sites in 17 countries. The Company had a workforce of around 77,000 worldwide across its commercial vehicle brands as of Saturday, December 31, The Group seeks to realign the transportation system through its products, its services, and as a partner for its customers. Page 5 of 6

6 Contact: Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH Julia Kroeber-Riel Head of Corporate Communications & Governmental Affairs Tel.: Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH Dr. Alexander Baer Business Communications Tel.: Page 6 of 6