At last year’s Busworld, Voith Turbo celebrated the 70th anniversary of its ‘DIWA’ line of automatic transmissions for urban and suburban buses. The German manufacturer had just brought out the latest addition to the DIWA range, the ‘DIWA NXT’. This reimagining of the city bus transmission, incorporating a mild hybrid system (optional), appeared on the scene when it still seemed that fully electric was the only way to go. Markus Bischoff – who is responsible for the DIWA product line – believes the company made a “brave decision” in supporting the development of the mild-hybrid transmission; today, he feels vindicated by the resurgence of interest in hybrids. “The main request we get from our customers,” Bischoff told Truck & Bus Builder, “is affordability.”

He will replace Andreas Endters, who is serving as interim CEO of the group as well as CEO of the paper business unit.

One of the joint ventures will be based in Germany and will be majority owned by Voith, while the other will be established in China with Weifu as majority owner.

Voith HySTech GmbH is based at the group’s site in Garching in the state of Bavaria, where hydrogen storage tanks made from carbon composites are currently being made.

Voith said in its financial report that the Turbo division crossed the EUR2bn threshold in orders received for the first time in its history.

The truck, branded as ‘Paul Hydrogen Power’ (PH2P), is built on a 16-tonne Mercedes-Benz ‘Atego’ glider chassis and is powered by the ‘Voith Electrical Drive System’ (VEDS), which provides 310 kW of continuous power and 410 kW of peak power.

Now that it is approved for road use, the Carbon4Tank is ready to be serially produced.

This vehicle has been designed and engineered in-house and with series production already started in Lambert, Scotland, the first deliveries are set for Q1 2024.

The market for electric vehicles in North America is currently a very crowded one. In the wake of two crucial U.S. government bills – the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) and the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) – established OEMs and startups are enjoying a boost in interest as grants and tax incentives support the expansion of EV manufacturing, sales, and charging/fuelling infrastructure.

The new inverter is an overhaul of the old design, making it better suited to commercial vehicle uses and more compliant with the latest cybersecurity requirements; that is according to Manuel Calero, Voith’s new vice president for E-Mobility who came into his role in February 2023.

ADL delivered its first batch of next-generation Enviro500EV electric double-deck buses to Hong Kong transport operator, Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB). This marks ADL’s first Enviro500EV double-deck buses in the Asia-Pacific region.

With the first order expected in Q1 2024, the Urbanway was chosen as part of the 2030 Prague Climate Plan which calls for 75% of the buses in the city to be completely emission-free or low-emission vehicles.

The 10th edition of Busworld Turkey is set to take place between the 29th – 31st of May 2024, in Halls 1 & 3 of the Istanbul Expo Centre in the Turkish capital.

It is no secret that big changes are afoot in the CV industry, and the challenges faced by manufacturers, old and new, are enormous. Martin Wawra, Head of the Mobility Division at Voith Turbo, spoke to T&BB about how the company is maintaining its “right to play” in the industry by addressing decarbonisation, digitisation, and problems such as rising costs and volatile supply chains.

The German group's Turbo division achieved sales revenue of EUR1.56bn and earnings of EUR48m in financial year 2021/22.

Voith Turbo’s electric drive systems for buses are already in operation with several OE vehicles, and now it is proposing a more advanced system for heavy truck applications. In this exclusive interview with T&BB, Alexander Denk explains the additions and changes that were needed to make the VEDS perform under more demanding conditions.

In this exclusive feature with T&BB, Dr Marc Osswald from the Voith Group explains the changes made to the company’s DIWA automatic transmission, and states why he believes the DIWA NXT is the ideal bridging technology between diesel and electric.

The 12-metre bus is fitted with a diesel engine which Keyou has converted to run on hydrogen and a “mild-hybrid” transmission with energy recuperation capabilities.

In an exclusive interview with T&BB, Patrick Seidel from the Voith Group explains what makes the ‘Plug & Drive H2 Storage System’ – to be showcased at IAA Transportation between 19-25 September – a unique market offering, and the role played by Voith Composites in developing it.

The following is based on an exclusive interview T&BB conducted with Johannes Ilg, VP Service Sales Management at Voith Turbo, the automotive technology division of the Voith Group.

Voith is developing a hydrogen storage tank, called Carbon4Tank, for vehicle fuelling purposes made from carbon-fibre-reinforced-polymers (CFRP), enabling greater storage capacity without compromising on payload or performance. 

‘Vehicle markets worldwide are seeing governments introduce legislation to fast track the shift in powertrain type from vehicles with traditional combustion engine technology to vehicles powered using zero emission electric drive systems,’ writes Voith Turbo of Heidenheim in a recent press release.

Voith's net carbon output across its facilities is now negative, through increasing use of solar and hydropower and through carbon offsets.

Voith reported an increase of 24% in its order intake and a 4% rise in sales revenue.