Italy – After debuting as an independent company at Busworld Europe 2023, FPT Industrial of Turin, Italy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Iveco Group, has made major investments into its ePowertrain business. With an increasing focus on battery packs, electric powertrains and battery management systems for electric Commercial Vehicles (CVs), the firm has active plans to expand its customer base amongst global CV manufacturers. Currently, thanks to its diversified portfolio, more than 60% of FPT’s overall business comes from third-party customers.

To gain a better understanding of the company’s plans, product portfolio and key investments, including the opening of its new ePowertrain factory in Turin, Italy, Truck & Bus Builder (T&BB) interviewed Alice Orsi, FPT Industrial’s Marketing and Product Portfolio Manager for ePowertrain.

FPT Industrial started its journey towards zero-emission back in 2018 when it released its first commercial electric driveline. The first ePowertrain produced was the eAx 840-R for the U.S. market. Other products followed, which included eAxles (electric axles, which feature on the Iveco S-Way), central drives (power transfer modules, which feature on the Iveco eDaily), modular battery packs for LCVs, minibuses and buses and battery management systems (BMS). Alice Orsi explained that FPT’s unique selling point (USP) is its complete e-powertrain development and integration, priding itself on its “reliability, performance, quality and now, sustainability”.

Alice Orsi said the company has adopted a two-pillar approach. On the one hand, the company is developing more sustainable (clean) diesel, natural gas and biodiesel engines and on the other, creating zero-emission solutions for the electric CV market. This can be seen through major investments over the last several years.

Investments

In late 2022, the company inaugurated a new >15,000 square-metre electric powertrain (ePowertrain) plant in Turin, a factory fully dedicated to the production of its electric drivetrain range including electric axles and battery packs for light commercial vehicles, minibuses, buses and medium and heavy commercial vehicles. Serving the European and U.S. markets, five production lines help the factory produce up to 50,000 e-axles and a capacity of over 1.3 gigawatts. Research and Development (R&D) for “system-level activities” and vehicle integration is split between Turin, Coventry (UK) and Arbon (Switzerland).

The production process uses three parallel highly automated and robotised production lines dedicated respectively to electric axle production, electric central drive systems and battery pack assembly. The plant was built using connected Industry 4.0 technologies enabling fast data collection and analysis for monitoring the production process and for improved safety, productivity and quality. FPT says its warehouses and assembly lines are highly integrated and automated.

Speaking at the inauguration, Sylvain Blaise, President of the Powertrain Business Unit at Iveco Group, said:

As key energy transition plays into all On-Highway and Off-Highway sectors, we are pioneering new clean energy propulsion systems and we are fully committed to reaching the ‘net zero carbon’ goal by 2040. Our new ePowertrain plant is a fundamental step in this process. The electrified products we manufacture here will accelerate decarbonisation in the transport sector, providing our partners and customers with cutting-edge solutions for their future product line-ups.

Batteries and BMS

FPT uses the Turin site, to assemble battery packs which were on full display at Busworld Europe in Brussels last year. The company displayed its eBS37 EVO 37 kWh battery pack for minibuses with an energy density of up to 140 Wh/kg and eight years of warranty. This battery pack is used on the Iveco eDaily minibus and is managed by the eBM5, the first battery management system designed in-house by FPT.

eBS37 EVO battery pack

Also at the show, was the eBS69 69 kWh battery pack for electric buses, with an energy density of up to 178 Wh/kg and up to 10 years of warranty. It’s the battery that is mounted on the updated generation of the Iveco Bus E-Way bus range. The first batch of 500 E-Way full-electric 18-metre articulated city buses are set to be delivered to Belgium later this year. Specifically designed for LCVs, minibuses and buses, these NMC (Lithium-Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt-Oxide) modular battery packs have been made in collaboration with pack partner Microvast Holdings Inc. Alice Orsi said that the NMC chemistry is used because of its high energy density and long-life cycle.

Supplying Nikola

Last year, the Iveco Group finalised its acquisition of the Nikola Iveco Europe GmbH joint venture rebranding the company as EVCO (Electric Vehicles Company). Iveco then announced its plan to produce and market its Heavy-Duty Battery-Electric Vehicles (HD BEV) and Heavy-Duty Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (HD FCEV) under the Iveco brand name. The vehicles, renamed Iveco S-eWay and S-eWay Fuel Cell –feature the same FPT electric axle which was displayed during the Iveco Model Year 24 Launch event in Barcelona last November. Both trucks will be manufactured at the facility in Ulm, Germany.

Iveco S-eWay Fuel Cell

Sustainability

The Iveco Group has committed to reaching net zero carbon by 2040, ten years earlier than the Paris Climate Accord mandates, thus sustainability targets have become paramount. Decarbonising its industrial activities is key, as the new plant in Turin is totally carbon neutral, the first of any Iveco Group plant. 100% of all the energy used, is generated from renewable sources.

Last year FPT signed an agreement with start-up Italian EV charging company Reefilla, to launch a second-life battery project using Iveco’s eBS37 battery packs, used in the Iveco eDaily. Once these batteries are no longer suitable for use, they will be delivered to Reefilla’s headquarters in Turin and repurposed in stationary storage units for charging stations. This will involve recycling the battery modules and 50 percent of the internal components, which will then be installed in Reefilla’s “Fillee mobile power banks”, for use in recharging its clients’ electric vehicles. FPT sees this as an opportunity to extract further value from the batteries they manufacture, and a chance to contribute to the circular economy.

FPT / Reefilla partnership launch

Furthermore, as part of its ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) goals, Iveco Group teamed up with German chemicals company BASF, who will be responsible for the collection, packaging, transportation and entire battery recycling operation, mechanically processing Iveco batteries into black mass from which lithium, cobalt and nickel will be extracted and then reused in the manufacturing of new batteries. By recycling the lithium-ion batteries used in Iveco Group EVs, the company is fully compliant with the Extended Producer Responsibility policies that expand manufacturers’ responsibilities to cover the entire life cycle of products they introduce to the market. Creating a European CV battery recycling value chain is a major step in helping decrease the environmental impact of the commercial electric vehicle industry in Europe.

From left to right, Dr. Daniel Schönfelder, President of BASF’s Catalysts division, and Francesco Donato, Head of Iveco Group Procurement.

Speaking about sustainability, Angela Qu, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Iveco Group said:

Life cycle thinking is one of our strategic sustainability priorities. BASF shares this approach with us, and its broad battery collection network and recycling capabilities in Europe will help us close the loop from end-of-life batteries to new ones. Working together we will enable a circular economy and reduce our CO2 footprint, which is fully in line with the Group’s commitment to reach net zero carbon by 2040.

2024 and the year ahead

2024 is a significant year in FPT Industrial’s progression in the development of its electric drivetrain, Alice Orsi stressed, with its ePowertrain engineers continuing to improve the propulsion, e-axles and e-driveline technologies by leveraging its R&D expertise. FPT is constantly monitoring cell chemistry developments and adapting its battery control management systems in order to adapt and meet market demand globally. By being as flexible and adaptable as possible with its technologies and products will, according to Alice Orsi, allow it to expand globally. As part of this global sales initiative, the company will have a presence at many upcoming CV shows around the world, including the ACT Expo in Las Vegas, USA (May 2024) and the IAA Transportation event in Hanover, Germany (September 2024).

eAxle for LCVs