The new Clarksville manufacturing facility will make battery cells for the first time in the USA, as well as battery packs for Microvast's growing portfolio of CV customers in North America.

These metallic bipolar plates are engineered to maximise the performance of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers used to produce hydrogen fuel.

Since the facility was opened in 1998, Navistar has produced nearly 880,000 truck and bus chassis in Escobedo - including its 'International eMV' series of battery-electric trucks.

The building will be constructed and expanded in phases up to 2030, representing a planned investment of up to EUR4.8bn, or CAD7bn.

The site’s expansion will involve converting existing warehouse space into production lines to assemble the body on the new Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV battery-electric chassis. From August 2023, the facility will focus on the production of the new Enviro400EV, following a successful pilot programme to build Enviro400FCEV hydrogen fuel cell buses in Larbert.

With over 100 staff, the plant has a production capacity of 1,000 vehicles per year, including hydrogen fuel cell and battery-electric buses, with alternative propulsion systems produced in Turin.

Watt's new partner, Etrux, is qualified in the construction of Luton bodies for cab-chassis platforms and in converting vans to applications such as utilities and temperature-controlled transportation.

The three million square metre plant is the company’s largest manufacturing site and employs just under 10,000 staff members manufacturing the Actros, Arocs, Atego, Econic, Unimog and Zetros models with a total capacity of 470 trucks per day.

Phillips Europe is a relatively new manufacturing operation for the US CV connector specialist, having bought Fortech Poland LLC, a manufacturer and distributor of quality 24v electrical connectors and cables for commercial vehicles in June 2018. The harness kits are part of a growing portfolio of products being developed for the European truck and semi-trailer market.

A driving test carried out with a Battery-Electric Vehicle (BEV) using SiC inverters showed the efficiency gain that can be expected. The test showed that the power loss was reduced by more than half compared to a vehicle with inverters using conventional silicon technology.

The company said that the first customer orders will be fulfilled from Q3 2023 onwards. 

This will require the integration of wireless technology into new commercial vehicles released in the market in the future as well as the collaboration to shape the standardisation of wireless EV charging.