The new test centre, jointly operated by FEV Group, in Oued Zem complements two cold weather sites in Finland, north of the Arctic Circle.

The vehicle presented at the show was a first demonstrator, but Schaeffler and VDL have plans to produce more, with the aim of commencing customer pilots in Germany in 2025.

Latent demand has boosted sales of buses and coaches (7.5t GVW and above) in India, amongst other reasons, with registrations up by 38.9% in the first quarter (April to June) of the financial year 2023-24 to register 10,939 units compared with 7,876 units in the same quarter of the previous financial year (FY2022-23).

Why do tech startups tend to concentrate in certain countries and regions? Or, to put it another way, why are some places more favourable to the growth of new companies than others? These are questions that bear greater relevance to the commercial vehicle industry today, as manufacturers search for partners to work with on the digital technologies which will make our trucks and buses smarter and more connected.

Toyota Tsusho Nexty Electronics Europe GmbH will supply Toyota’s proprietary fuel cell to Pepper Motion, including auxiliary components.

Sales of light-duty buses and coaches (7.5t & below) rose by 24.6% to register 14,438 units in the first fiscal quarter (April to June) of 2023, up from 11,590 units in Q1 of FY2022.

The German company plans to develop 400-volt and 800-volt variants for its electric drive systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

The company announced that after signing an agreement to supply an Italian public procurement company with 80 e-Atak buses in 2021, it is set to provide another 320 electric minibuses, over the course of the next 18 months. The agreement covers Karsan’s six-metre e-Jest electric bus and the eight-metre e-Atak.

Siemens said that the acquisition, which would merge Heliox into its existing eMobility portfolio of charging products, will expand its coverage to DC fast chargers for trucks and buses.

The FC-powered coach is based on a customized BharatBenz coach chassis and powered by a fuel cell system designed and developed by Reliance Industries.

From now on, Volkswagen will specify to its Tier 1 suppliers which semiconductors and other parts it would prefer in its electronic components.

The implied enterprise valuation of "QEV NV" is EUR209m, and approximately EUR23m in capital has been committed to the proposed transaction.