Carbon reduction efforts have intensified throughout the transportation industry. As such, senior executives and government leaders showcased their newest efforts to combat carbon at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, better known as the ACT Expo.
Hydrogen fuel cell and battery-electric truck platforms headlined this year’s event, which focuses heavily on the trucking, commercial vehicle and fleet management segments. The expo started Monday and runs through Thursday at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California.
Companies unveiling new vehicles, technology and partnerships included the likes of Daimler, Toyota, Hyundai, Volvo and Paccar.
Reporters Jerry Hirsch and Molly Boigon covered the developments.
Hydrogen is key to Nikola's rebrand. It needs more cash
Fri, May 5, 6:00 pm
After booting out a CEO convicted of fraud, launching an electric heavy-duty truck and getting ready to start the first delivery of its flagship hydrogen fuel cell big rig, Nikola Corp. is looking to the next phase of its turnaround.
Trucking, freight companies face EV charging, hydrogen fueling gaps as they electrify their fleets
Thu, May 4, 5:16 pm
If enough chargers were available along U.S. roads, a single-digit order for the Freightliner eCascadia electric Class 8 tractor could have multiplied to hundreds.
"We've had people say, 'Hey, we love the five that we took delivery of, and if we had a way to charge them, we would take 200 more,' " John O'Leary, CEO of Daimler Truck North America, which owns Freightliner, told Automotive News at the ACT Expo here. ACT stands for Advanced Clean Transportation.
Trucking event will provide independent Tesla Semi performance data
Thu, May 4, 12:37 pm
The automotive and truck industries will soon learn much more about Tesla Inc.'s Semi — the Class 8 truck the electric vehicle company claims will upend the trucking industry with revolutionary performance.
PepsiCo confirmed Wednesday it would enter at least one of the Tesla Semis it operates in the Run On Less trucking industry event later this year.
Volvo sees ACT Expo popularity as validating truck technology advances
Wed, May 3, 5:53 pm
ACT Expo, the clean transportation conference in Anaheim this week, started as a tiny show in 2011 in Long Beach, demonstrating how fleets and businesses could use hybrid vehicles like the early generations of the Toyota Prius to reduce fossil fuel dependency.
Twelve years later, it is now the most important show for trucks and commercial vehicles in the U.S., Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America, told Automotive News.
“Everybody is here. You don’t need another exhibition anymore,†Voorhoeve said.
ACT Expo organizers said there are about 12,000 attendees here this week, including truck manufacturers, trucking fleet representatives, charging companies, hydrogen suppliers, autonomous vehicle technology developers, regulators, investors and others.
The attendance reflects how advanced technology such as electric trucks, once experimental or in pilot programs, has moved into full commercialization, Voorhoeve said. During the Volvo presentation, Voorhoeve stood between the company’s VNR Electric regional hauler and prototype autonomous Class 8 truck.
Volvo has delivered more than 250 electric trucks to customers in 12 U.S. states and Canadian provinces. It has another 530 on order. If there’s one hitch, the slow development of charging infrastructure is holding back sales and deliveries.
“People have questions as it becomes more real and less conceptual. ‘What do I do in California? What do I do in New York? How does this work?’†Voorhoeve said.
He said that it reflects how customers are looking to take the vehicles coming off the production line and integrate them into their fleets.
Volvo is now working on the next steps in developing trucks and technology that can replace diesel counterparts, including a hydrogen fuel cell truck for long haul operations, an electric motor axle that would extend the range on electric and fuel cell trucks and is looking at hydrogen combustion vehicles.
-Jerry Hirsch
Toyota to supply fuel cell powertrains to Kenworth
Tue, May 2, 11:23 pm
Toyota Motor North America announced an agreement to put its fuel cell powertrain into Kenworth and Peterbilt big rigs.
The automaker and Paccar, owner of the truck brands, announced the deal Tuesday at the ACT Expo clean transportation conference.
Hyundai launches U.S. hydrogen fuel cell truck strategy
Tue, May 2, 9:43 pm
Leveraging its experience offering fuel cell passenger vehicles, Hyundai Motor Co. plans to offer a hydrogen-powered heavy-duty truck in the U.S. this year.
Hyundai unveiled the production version of its Xcient Fuel Cell Class 8 truck on Tuesday at the ACT Expo just a block from Disneyland in California.
Freightliner unveils eM2 medium-duty electric truck
Tue, May 2, 7:34 pm
Daimler Truck North America revealed a Freightliner medium-duty electric truck at the ACT Expo on Tuesday.
Orders for the eM2 will begin immediately, and Daimler said production will begin in fourth quarter at its Portland, Ore., manufacturing plant.
Bosch and Plus unveil driver-assist truck tech
Tue, May 2, 5:34 pm
Global supplier Bosch and trucking technology company Plus are working together to develop and deploy advanced driver-assistance features, the companies said Monday at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo.
The new system combines Plus' predictive 360-degree sensors and assisted driving tools such as merge handling and suggested lane change with Bosch's hardware and steering system.
Freightliner owner Daimler unveils new medium-duty electric truck brand
Tue, May 2, 5:29 pm
Freightliner owner Daimler Truck is launching a new brand of electric class 4 and 5 trucks.
The new brand, Rizon, will sell and service the zero-emission vehicles exclusively through the commercial vehicle outlet Velocity Vehicle Group in the U.S., starting with deliveries in California and New York in the fourth quarter of 2023.
