Vancouver, British Columbia-based First Hydrogen Corp has announced that its green hydrogen van will begin demonstrator testing in June 2022. First Hydrogen has partnered with Ballard Power Systems Inc of Vancouver, Canada, and the UK subsidiary of AVL List GmbH, AVL Powertrain UK Ltd of Hartlebury, to provide the drive components for the vehicle. The two demonstrator vans have been sourced from MAN SE, based in Munich, Germany, and are currently at AVL’s UK headquarters.

Stuttgart-based Daimler Truck AG has announced its Mercedes-Benz Trucks brand will be launching the third generation of its OM 471 heavy-duty commercial vehicle engine. The new engine is now available to order and will be ready to deliver from October 2022.

Kodiak Robotics Inc, based in Mountain View, California, and CEVA Logistics of Houston, Texas, have teamed up to deliver freight autonomously between Dallas Fort-Worth and Austin; and Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City.

Austin, Texas-based truck retrofitter Hyliion Holdings Corp has recently received two orders for a total of 70 units of its Hypertruck ERX. 50 units have been purchased by GreenPath Logistics, with a further 20 units ordered by Mone Transport.

Paris-based Forsee Power SAS has announced a new ultra-modular heavy-duty battery system, titled the ZEN PLUS. Forsee says the system offers a greater energy density to support high power applications, making it suitable for buses, off-road vehicle, and heavy trucks.

DAF Trucks N.V., based in Eindhoven, has begun field testing the new generation of the XF, XG, and XG+ distribution trucks. DAF will unveil its New Generation of distribution trucks in the second half of the year. The new series will become available in addition to the range of DAF CF trucks.

CALSTART has recently published its annual ‘Zeroing in on Zero-Emission Trucks’ report highlighting that, as of December 2021, there have been 1,215 ZETs (zero-emission trucks) deployed on US roads.¹ Crucially, however, CALSTART estimates that over 60% of ZETs deployed in the US are no longer operational. Consequently, the true number of active ZETs is much lower than initially suggested.

HVAC systems supplier for bus and coach and rail, Hispacold SA has opened a climate testing laboratory at its headquarters in Seville. The new purpose-built facility has two separate climate chambers, one for bus and one for rail. Hispacold says it has invested close to EUR1million in the centre, with initial plans first drawn up as far back as 2010.

The French manufacturer teased details of two heavy-duty electric trucks designed for regional haulage and construction applications respectively.

Nikola reported net losses of USD159m in Q4 2021 and USD690m for FY 2021.

The TX-18 series, which reportedly provides improved driveability and efficiency, is designed to work exclusively with MX engines in heavy-duty Peterbilt trucks.

The paper, published in Nature Electronics, argues that hydrogen technology is unlikely to play a major role in decarbonising heavy-duty vehicles, as the development of battery-electric technologies could soon render fuel-cell electric vehicles "superfluous".