from Christian Lutz am 24.03.2021
TratonThe VWCO e-Delivery 11, an electric delivery van sold by Traton in Brazil.
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VW CEO Herbert Diess comments on Twitter about the move away from fuel cells for trucks. Instead, Traton, the parent company of Scania and MAN, wants to concentrate entirely on the development of battery-electric drives.
In the tweet from March 22nd, VW boss Diess made it clear: “Electrification is the right way! The big dreams of fuel cell trucks running on green hydrogen are gone. Just a niche!” he comments on the message from Traton to rely entirely on electric drives. Fuel cell trucks with green hydrogen were nothing but a big dream. That fits with Diess’ line – he has sworn the entire group on the electric course for years.
Traton (until 2018: Volkswagen Truck & Bus) intends to invest a total of 1.6 billion euros in the research and development of electric commercial vehicles by 2025. The company’s clear focus is on battery-powered electric vehicles that can also be used for long-distance transport. Overhead line trucks that are already on the road on motorway test sections will therefore not play a major role in the next few years. The budget for the development of conventional drives is to be reduced to a fifth in the same period.
MAN and Scania want to produce electric commercial vehicles
The Traton Group has already set fixed goals for the coming years: by 2025, 10 percent of Scania vehicles sold in Europe are to be electrically powered. This should also apply to half of all new MAN buses. By 2030, every second Scania vehicle should have an electric drive, and at least 60 percent of delivery vans and 40 percent of MAN long-distance vans should be emission-free. Traton sees only small niches for fuel cells.
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TratonThe MAN Lion’s City E04 is an electrically powered bus with a battery, produced by Traton.
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Efficiency, range and type of vehicle play a role in the selection of the drive
As a rule, according to Traton, all-electric commercial vehicles outperform their competitors with fuel cells in terms of costs and environmental friendliness, especially when it comes to long-distance transport. “When powered by a fuel cell, only a third of the energy is used to move, the other two thirds are losses during conversion. With electric drives it is exactly the opposite, ”explained Traton CEO Matthias Gründler. So far, it was believed that commercial vehicles with hydrogen should be used for long distances and electric vehicles for short distances. However, Gründler contradicts this. An electric drive with a battery pays off, especially with constant and frequent use in the case of long-distance transport. Nevertheless, commercial vehicles with fuel cells that fill up with hydrogen will definitely have their place on the market in the next ten years. Long-distance buses, for example, whose rest breaks are not sufficient to recharge the batteries, could be refueled with hydrogen within a short period of time. Trucks with fuel cells are also conceivable in certain regions with a high supply of environmentally friendly hydrogen, such as near North Sea wind farms or ports.
Toyota, VW’s competitor for first place in the world’s largest automaker, has a completely different hydrogen strategy – and with the Mirai is offering one of the few freely available fuel cell cars. EFAHRER.com tested the car.
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