By the end of September, 210 ambulances and 50 emergency vehicles will be fitted with transmitters and receivers, along with on-board diagnostics, for remote data exchange.

About the retrofit of the H2 ICE engine, Lord Bamford, JCB Chairman, said: “We have retrofitted this vehicle with a JCB hydrogen engine to demonstrate how simple it will be to convert existing vans and to show that it is not only construction and agricultural machines that can be powered by hydrogen. While converting vans will not be for JCB to do, it does prove there is something else other than batteries that can work very effectively.”

UK operator, Newport Transport, appoints Equipmake to convert 8 of its double-deckers to electric power with its Zero Emission Drivetrain (ZED).

A multi-year deal signed earlier this year with waste management company, Biffa, ensures that an initial order of up to ten 26-tonne Mercedes-Benz Econic diesel-powered refuse vehicles will be repowered with Lunaz electric drivetrains, saving an estimated 210 tonnes of carbon a year.

In the past year, Phoenix Mobility has rebranded itself as ‘Tolv’ and attained UTAC and CNRV certification for the conversion of Renault mid-sized vans to electric power.

The project will establish a procedure for battery health assessment and develop methods for preparing replacement components and for disassembly and reassembly of battery packs.

June saw Hyundai sign a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean Ministry of Environment, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and others to convert more than 1,300 public transportation vehicles to hydrogen fuel cell power by 2026.

EYES will be renamed as ‘Quantron Italy srl’ and will be responsible for assembling and marketing Quantron vehicles for the Italian market.

The German retrofit firm said that the federal government’s funding programmes for commercial electric vehicles, which were launched in 2021 and provide money for retrofitting diesel vehicles, have not made an appreciable impact on customer choices.

The order consists of Lightning ZEV3 vans (cargo and passenger) and ZEV4 shuttle buses. The delivery of the ZEV3 vans has begun with the rest of the order set for completion by the end of this year (2023).

The truck on show - based on the Freightliner Cascadia - had an 80-kg hydrogen storage capacity, but with 100 kg Quantron claims the vehicle range could reach between 750 and 850 miles.

Phoenix Motor says it changed the layout of the new e-chassis (based on the Ford E-450) to make more space for its newly designed battery packs towards the front and rear of the frame rails.