Between 12-13 June, Schmitz Cargobull AG hosted members of the press at its trailer factory in Vreden, located just on the border with the Netherlands. The ostensible reason for our visit was to receive a sneak preview of the company’s newest transport refrigeration product, which will be unveiled at the next IAA Transportation in Hanover: in fact, we learned much more about the company’s plans to expand and modernise its trailer factory, where it produces the ‘S.KO’ refrigerated models and the ‘S.BO’ dry freight range.

Located in Byhalia, a town located in Marshall County (just on the Mississippi-Tennessee border near Memphis), the five-hundred-acre site will accommodate a two-million-square-foot plant by 2027.

Jim Castelaz, who founded the company back in 2009 and is now Chief Technology & Revenue Officer, described Motiv to T&BB as “Silicon Valley meets Motor City”.

Approximately 360,000 square feet of the existing plant, which measures 1.42m square feet, will be given over to the ‘Accelera’ zero emission brand.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Enva will contribute its national battery collection network with Altilium’s recycling expertise, recovering precious metals and other critical materials such as lithium, which will be used in the production of new batteries.

Reyco Granning specialises in manufacturing suspension solutions for heavy and medium-duty vehicles, including for motorhomes, emergency response vehicle, speciality trailers, commercial trucks and buses.

The upgraded fuel tank isolation valve (FTIV) is 27% lighter, 39% smaller and contains 24% fewer components than the previous generation. Eaton has said that it has agreements in place to supply this product to two global automotive customers.

FEV’s “CycleBat” allows OEMs to predict the economic, ecological and recycling costs related to its battery development. The award was presented by the ATZ/MTZ Group and management consultants Arthur D. Little.

Ballard launched its 9th generation 120kW fuel cell engine (FCmove-XD) for the HGV market which is set to go into series production by the end of 2024 at the Ballard factory in Oregon, with plans to move production to its future fuel cell production Gigafactory in Rockwall, Texas. 

Allison states that many Chinese-built buses are now equipped with its Torqmatic series, a range of fully automatic transmissions for engine ratings ranging from 172 kilowatts (230hp) to 283 (380hp), specifically designed for suburban buses and tour coaches.

The company has stated that the product has been designed to withstand “harsh environments”. These converters are air-cooled and able to operate in temperatures of up to 85 degrees Celsius.

Jointly developed by the two companies, the engine will be integrated into Isuzu’s new medium-duty truck range. The engine is set to go into series production in Q4 2024, at Isuzu’s engine plant in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.