Volkswagen AG is flanking its push into electric cars with plans to roll out battery-powered commercial vehicles targeted at urban areas as growing public concerns about air quality boost demand.<\/p>\n
The Volkswagen Truck & Bus division will invest 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in new technology including electric drivetrains, autonomous systems and cloud-based software, Andreas Renschler, head of the unit, said Wednesday in an interview in Hamburg.<\/p>\n
To help spread the costs, US affiliate Navistar International Corp will adopt the electric drivetrain.<\/p>\n
A battery-powered VW truck, dubbed e-Delivery, will roll off assembly lines in Brazil in 2020, while the German manufacturer\u2019s MAN and Scania nameplates will both deliver wholly electric buses\u00a0next year to European cities, adding to bio-diesel, hybrid systems and natural-gas line-ups.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in a wide range of alternative powertrains and fuels, depending on local availability, social and local demand and customer requirements,\u201d Renschler said at a press event.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore it is crucial that policy makers adopt a technology-neutral approach” in any regulations.<\/p>\n
Electric trucks for local deliveries will probably exceed a 5% market share by 2025, according to Renschler.<\/p>\n
That compares to a forecast of about 25% for battery-powered autos. Commercial-vehicle manufacturers have been slow to develop electric models as loads are heavier than for cars and they serve a wider range of industry needs.<\/p>\n
Complicating matters is that trucks already vary significantly across the globe because of differences in regulations, making it difficult to build vehicles in large enough volumes to generate economies of scale.<\/p>\n
While in the aftermath of Volkswagen\u2019s emissions-cheating scandal, some municipalities are looking at banning diesel engines to reduce air pollution.<\/p>\n
German competitor Daimler AG, the world\u2019s largest commercial-vehicle producer and Renschler\u2019s former employer, has stepped up development of engines including fully electric and hybrid versions as well as digital services to defend its lead.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen is also facing new rivals such as Tesla Inc., which is unveiling of a\u00a0battery-powered semi truck on Nov. 16.<\/p>\n
Better battery technology will be key to making electric trucks more attractive by lowering operation costs, Renschler said.<\/p>\n
In addition to higher prices for the systems and recharging challenges, the power packs \u201care heavy and room-stealing,\u201d reducing carrying capacity, Renschler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith city buses, we are just hitting the break-even point compared to conventional solutions,\u201d Renschler said.<\/p>\n
\u201cElectric distribution trucks are expected to turn positive in 2020-25,\u201d while battery-powered long-haul heavy vehicles will be \u201clate\u201d in turning a profit for their owners.<\/p>\n
Autonomous Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n VW Truck & Bus\u2019s autonomous-driving technology is focused on closed environments, like snow plows at airports or transport shuttles on set routes in parking lots or factories.<\/p>\n VW plans to be ready for commercial production of the models within two years. Engineers are already working with customers to refine technology and gain experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThe autonomous Scania mining truck standing outside of this building is ready to be shipped to the first customer overseas after this event,\u201d Renschler said. \u201cThis truck is not a vision. It\u2019s real stuff, here and now.\u201d<\/p>\n Success with those models, as well as services including new software to efficiently manage cargo, will determine whether VW will gain traction in creating a global truckmaking powerhouse with an\u00a0average 9% operating return on sales.<\/p>\n Renschler said VW is keeping all options open to expand the business, including a possible share sale. He\u2019s also looking at increasing the 25% stake in China\u2019s Sinotruk Hong Kong that MAN holds as well as widening cooperation with GAZ PJSC in Russia and Navistar in the US, where Daimler\u2019s Freightliner brand is the market leader.<\/p>\n Read<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Volkswagen AG is flanking its push into electric cars with plans to roll out battery-powered commercial vehicles targeted at urban areas as growing public concerns about air quality boost demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":198084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11119],"tags":[9547],"class_list":["post-204512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-vw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204516,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204512\/revisions\/204516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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