Plus says that on-road testing of Traton trucks installed with its ‘SuperDrive’ Level 4 autonomous driving technology has already begun in the USA and Sweden.

The Volvo subsidiary has begun pilot testing its Class 6-7 battery electric truck range with four customers, according to an announcement made during Work Truck Week 2024 at the Indiana Convention Center.

The Driver Challenge (4th edition) will see 20 finalists battle it out in a series of practical and knowledge-based tests over a two-day (in autumn) multistage process to crown the best Commercial Vehicle (CV) driver in the UK.

Daimler is currently building a customer trial fleet of five of its Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Trucks (semi-trailer tractors) which will be tested on German roads starting in June 2024. With a focus on long-haul transport applications, the vehicles will offer a payload of 25 tons at a gross combination weight (GCW) of 40 tons.

Isuzu together with partner, Honda, last month began testing a prototype of the Giga Fuel Cell heavy-duty truck on roads in Japan.

Both subsystems are intended for easy integration into prototype and development vehicles, providing some of the necessary electronic components between the fuel cell stack/auxiliary battery and the traction motor.

Specific testing will evaluate the electric and thermal performance of the HFC in real-world conditions. Ultimately, this is another step in bringing this product to market.

The prototype truck, which hauled a full trailer in the Swedish town of Älmhult, was installed with Westport’s ‘H2 HPDI’, a high-pressure direct injection system which allows an internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen.

AT&T has agreed to evaluate the Rivian Commercial Van to judge whether it will improve fleet safety and reduce costs, in addition to cutting its carbon emissions.

Build it and they will come. This is the approach being taken by the Moroccan government to grow its automotive industry, which is the largest in Africa but still modest by global standards. The kingdom already has major plants owned by Renault and Stellantis, alongside components production from European, American, and Japanese firms. Relying on foreign companies to do all the work can have variable outcomes, however: for example, a new EV plant which was proposed by Chinese automaker BYD in 2017 has failed to materialise.

Built for the U.S. Department of Energy’s SuperTruck II programme, the prototype truck, described by Paccar as a “testbed for future product technologies”, was developed in order to improve freight ton efficiency by 100% compared to a 2009 baseline.

The test was conducted by Mesilla Valley Transportation Solutions (MVTS) of Las Cruces, New Mexico on a 25.5-mile route, comprising urban and highway roads.