The Slovak company unveiled the tractor unit at a press event – a Ford F-Max truck retrofitted with a range-extended electric powertrain and dubbed ‘M&I RH120R’.

The initiative is enabled by the “hydrogen in mobility” subsidy scheme (Subsidieregeling Waterstof in Mobiliteit, or “SWiM”), which is offering a total of EUR40m to applicants next year.

With this pilot, Volvo hopes to earn “regulatory and public trust and acceptance of autonomous technologies”.

Deliveries are set to start in Q4 2025 with the trucks built in partnership with Iowa-based family-run refuse and recycling truck body manufacturer New Way Trucks.

The order is from Clean Green Fuel and Logistics Pvt Ltd, a two-year old start-up logistics focussed on revolutionizing operations with green fuel solutions.

Ashok Leyland is an agreement to supply chassis to Flixbus, which are then bodied with Prakesh bodies.

The supply agreement is in support of the Baidyanath company’s plan to create a network of LNG refuelling stations in strategic locations across Central India.

For 2024, the company’s order book stands at 130 units – that is, compared to the 30 units per year which Temsa used to sell in the British market around ten years ago.

The whole vehicle will be produced entirely on the line at Atessa, which Stellantis said marked a “historic moment” for the facility and “a significant step in sustainable commercial vehicle manufacturing”.

This order follows a competitive e-bidding process conducted through the Government tendering system.

The new extended-range E-Tech T will offer an energy storage capacity of 800 kWh, a significant expansion on the maximum capacity of 540 kWh which is offered with the current version of the truck.

The new truck with the Cummins-derived engine is believed to be the first of global engine partnership between Daimler and Cummins for medium duty engines at Euro VI and beyond.