Daimler Trucks & Buses, the commercial vehicle division of Daimler AG, last month announced it is pursuing a strategy to offer only new vehicles that are CO2-neutral in driving operation in the triad markets of Europe, Japan and NAFTA by 2039.

From the start of next year's IAA Commercial Vehicle Event in Hanover, Daimler E Mobility Trucks & Buses, a division of Daimler AG is to offer a free eTruck Ready App enabling customers to determine which operating profiles and routes are suitable for an electric truck.

Following the announcement by the Council for the European Union in June of a new vehicle directive that mandates the percentage of buses that must be emission-free by 2025 and 2030, three technology companies BMZ, Ziehl-Abegg and Horiba Mira have teamed up to offer, what they claim, is a unique turnkey service for converting existing bus fleets to e-Buses.

Celerity DRS GmbH, a supplier of aerodynamic and anti-drag systems and a division of brake friction company, Bremse Technic (UK) Ltd, was at Solutrans 2019 in Lyon last month to raise awareness of its exclusive distribution rights for Europe of the tire inflation system, made and produced by Pressure Systems International Inc (PSI) of San Antonio, Texas, in the United States.

Akasol AG, a manufacturer of high-performance lithium-ion battery systems for commercial vehicles, is to open a production facility in Detroit, Michigan, USA next year .

Kiepe Electric GmbH (a subsidiary of Knorr-Bremse Group), used Busworld last month to introduce theKiepe Traction Inverter, a traction converter that combines the power electronics for the traction system and for charging of the battery in a single system for electric buses and other heavy duty electric commercial vehicle applications.

Battery producer, Akasol, which recently opened a new European HQ in Darmstadt, said its future flagship high-energy battery AKASystem AKM CYC, will be produced at Darmstadt, with start of production in 2021 and at its new US headquarters in Detroit starting in 2022 as part of a recently agreed production order from a global commercial vehicle manufacturer.

The Charging Test Centre of VDL ETS in cooperation with Siemens Smart Infrastructure, is to investigate how vehicle technologies, energy storage and charging systems can best work together.

Electric motor manufacturer, Ziehl-Abegg SE, Germany and developer of the ZA Wheel said it was having major success in the retrofit market in conjunction with conversion specialist, I-See Buses GmbH.

The eCitaro electric city bus is now operating in several cities across Europe, Till Oberwörder, head of Daimler Buses said at Busworld Europe in Brussels, last month, and confirmed three-digit orders would be fulfilled before the end of 2019.

The latest generation of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter now features an optional 'High Load' rear axle, which allows greater carrying capacity.

At the end of 2020, ZF Friedrichshafen AG says it will begin production of PowerLine, the company’s new 8-speed fully automatic transmission for medium-duty commercial vehicles in order to supply a contract with an unnamed major North American OEM for launching in early 2021.