This debut marks the first product from Maxion Structural Components' global partnership with French battery supplier, Forsee Power, announced in April last year.

A truck wheel is easily taken for granted. In fact, its plain appearance and simple construction are the products of no less care and ingenuity than most any other part essential to the making of a truck. For Karl Rode, who is Director of Engineering for passenger car and commercial vehicle steel wheels at Maxion Wheels, the ingenuity emerges from the fine balance maintained between weight and strength.

In the opening pages of its very first sustainability report, published in 2019, Iochpe-Maxion proclaimed its interest in “establishing a position of transparency for the market and society”. The Brazilian company – originally a logging firm and now one of the largest manufacturers of wheels and structural components for automotives and commercial vehicles – had pursued certain sustainability objectives prior to 2019, but these had been managed individually by its numerous subsidiaries.

Customers will consult them on the best e-powertrain layout for their needs, considering factors such as: maximising use of the available space; optimising weight distribution and the vehicle’s total weight; optimising vehicle payload and power, based on the customer’s use case.

Iochpe-Maxion S.A., based in São Paulo, has announced it is to invest BRA100 million (USD20 million) in its Cruzeiro manufacturing facility in Brazil. As a result of the investment, the company will increase its annual production capacity by 400,000 truck wheels and 110,000 agricultural wheels.

The parent of brands such as Maxion Wheels and Maxion Structural Components has announced a set of sustainability commitments under its ‘ROADMAP ZERO’ strategy, which aims to make the components supplier into a carbon neutral business by 2040.