Speech by Karin Rådström, CEO, Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Member of the Board of the Management Daimler Truck AG, at the IAA International Press Workshop held in Frankfurt, Germany
What we will see at IAA this year will really be a huge step towards the future of sustainable transformation. Everyone is talking about it and I think there is good reason for that because it’s happening here and now. We are ready to start to decarbonize the transport sector. We try to go step by step to really have zero emission solutions to replace every diesel truck that we have in our fleet today. The equation is to make sure that our customers can actually integrate the products that we are making available into their business in a smooth way. Here is the snapshot of products we would show at IAA Transportation 2022.
The Mercedes-Benz eActros
The Mercedes-Benz eActros is our product for heavy distribution. It has a range of 400 kilometers and it’s already in series production. We already have it running with a lot of our customers. We are getting really good feedback from customers like DB Schenker, saying that the range is great for this application. Also, the noise level both from the driver perspective and the city perspective is low. Citizens also experience great comfort, so we will bring this to the IAA. We will also showcase it for the first time together with bodywork that we have together with ZF-developed PTO called E-Works which we will show on a minor hook loader and a paddle finger skip loader.
Another product that we will show is the Mercedes Benz eEconic (for CO₂ neutral waste collection) for municipal applications. This is just going into series production right now. We actually have one of our test trucks here in Frankfurt in the FAS, riding and collecting a lot of garbage but also a lot of feedback that we use to enhance our offering when we start going to more mobilizations. Third and the biggest news I would say from our side for the IAA this year is that we will showcase the Mercedes-Benz eActros long-haul truck for the first time and this is our product for electrifying the heavy-duty long-haul segment, which is one of the most demanding segments to electrify but also one where we can have the biggest CO₂ reduction.
The target with this vehicle is 500 kilometers range and it will be prepared for megawatt charging which means that we can charge the battery from more or less 20 to 80% state of charge in less than half an hour. We are currently testing this product and it will be on public roads this year. Customer tests will start next year and we will go into serious production with this product in 2024. A couple of other highlights that we will show for the first time will include our new generation of OM471, which is our six-cylinder 13-litre engine for Actros and Aerox, our long-haul and construction vehicles. We are anticipating a fuel consumption saving of 4%. So, that is a huge step for us.
We will show our new generation mirror cam which is greatly improved from the last generation. First of all, it has shorter arms so it sticks out shorter from the side of the cab by 10 centimeters as compared to the first generation and this is something we developed based on feedback from customers who are driving in sort of tight city operations where they will now have a little bit more space to maneuver. We have also improved the resolution of the cameras and especially when there’s very bright light this new mirror cam has a very good resolution and will be much easier to see.
Then of course, we’re also going to show our gen H2 truck, our hydrogen truck. There will also be some more news for which you have to come visit us at IAA to see. I promise you that there is also more to come for us and it’s the first time that we will show more zero emission vehicles than conventional ones and we are staying steady with our ambition to electrify or make it hydrogen-based for up to 60% of the sold vehicles in Europe in 2030.
Engagement with Partners for Charging Infrastructure
Apart from these product displays we would also be addressing customers’ apprehension on challenges in integrating a e-truck in their fleet, setting up charging infrastructure and questions related to the pay-offs. We are working together with Siemens and ENGIE to provide charging solutions to the depot of the customers. Daimler Truck, Traton Group and Volvo Group have signed a binding agreement to establish a joint venture for public charging for long-distance transport. This provides for the establishment and operation of a public high-performance charging network for battery-electric, heavy-duty, long-distance trucks and coaches in Europe.
The charging network of these three parties should be available to fleet operators in Europe, regardless of brand. So, we finally can start building some infrastructure. In this company we invested Euros 500 million and we will build a public infrastructure in Europe for charging all vehicles. These are just a few initiatives from our side. We need even more initiative where we really need to look together with our customers on how to speed up the infrastructure. We are committed to provide transparency on how the fleet will be doing as well as build trust with our customers so they know what’s going on and how the charging works.
We do connect all the chargers that we are helping to install in the demo and there the customers can see the status of the charger also from remote so that they know if the vehicles are charging as planned. And if not, that’s also good to know because then you need to do something and in the best case you can just reset the charger from home and then you can restart the charging process. This is also part of the service but here of course we need to co-develop and continue to develop these services as we are learning together with our customers. We are ready for this big change and I think it will be a great display at IAA where we can show all of these solutions. I am sure all of these pieces of the puzzles are really starting to come together and I hope you will visit us at IAA and we can discuss more.