Pod Point will offer Iveco eDaily customers discounted prices on AC charging equipment to both individual and fleet operators handling the installation, maintenance and servicing of its charging units.

This strategy falls under the company’s “long-term incentive plan” which will see Iveco offer stocks to executives, making it easier to attract top talent from around the world.

With over 100 staff, the plant has a production capacity of 1,000 vehicles per year, including hydrogen fuel cell and battery-electric buses, with alternative propulsion systems produced in Turin.

The new facility will house up to 480 technicians and 100 commercial staff with the aim of training staff in both vehicle repair and maintenance as well as customer-facing skills that will be put into use in Iveco dealerships.

The 238 Crossway class II (12 metre) buses are being delivered to the Sardinian-based public transport company, ARST, with the first 144 having been delivered in March and the remaining 94, being shipped in June 2023. 

The agreement with Italian lightweight automotive components manufacturer, Poggipolini, will see both companies combine resources, skills and research and development projects regarding battery module and pack design solutions to service the automotive EV sector.

The vehicles will be powered by BAE Systems’ third generation Series-E full hybrid drivetrain, consisting of a 250kW electric traction motor, a 150kW Euro 6 combustion engine, and a 1kWh ultracapacitor energy storage system.

Sales in the commercial vehicle applications segment contributed Euro 350,2 million in 2022 compared to Euro 293.9 million the previous year, a growth of Euro 56.3 million.

With deliveries beginning in the second half of 2023, this order follows the announcement in January of a 500 articulated E-WAY electric city bus order from Flemish government-owned public transport operator De Lijn.

Iveco has offered several iterations of the eDaily over the past decade.

Testing of the Iveco Bus / Plus Inc heavy-duty truck (Iveco S-Way) installed with Plus’s level 4 autonomous driving technology (‘PlusDrive’), is set to expand from Germany into Austria, Italy and Switzerland in March 2023 in order to collect more complex road data and ultimately go into series production.

IDV hope to build on Horiba Mira’s expertise in remote control, teleoperated and autonomous vehicle technology.