Page 17 - toptruck-magazine

INDUSTRY NEWS
IRIZAR
SPANICH TRUCK
MANUFACTURER LAUNCHES
AN ELECTRIC TRUCK
Spanish coach and bus builder Irizar has launched an electric
truck. After VDL, it is the second coach and bus builder that
has presented an electric transport solution for cargo. Irizar
invested 75 milion in a new plant where electrical vehicles
can be built. For the time being, the production of trams and
busses is being prioritized, but from 2019 onwards, electrical
trucks will be produced. The Irizar ie-Truck is a 6×2 chassis,
mainly for the collection of waste. The engine is 230kW and
there is 120kWh on battery capacity on board. Irizar claims
a radius of 200km. The CNG range extender can extend the
radius significantly.
TECHNOLOGIES
BETWEEN A DRONE
AND A TRUCK
Swedish start-up Einride has just announced that it will be
able to test its small freight vehicles, called T-pod, which are SPANISH CARRIERS
autonomous and electric, from autumn 2018 on the roads
of Sweden. It plans to deploy, by 2020, 200 autonomous
shuttles between the cities of Gothenburg and Helsingborg
(215 km apart). Unlike the trucks tested by Otto (Uber),
Waymo (Google) or Starsky Robotics, the Einride T-pods
do not rely on a traditional truck base. Swedish engineers
started from a blank page to design a vehicle without a
cab. The start-up chose to use the Nvidia Drive AI platform,
which uses artificial intelligence for autonomous driving.
If necessary, a remote operator can take control of it, for
example on the approach between two warehouses. The
vehicle, which is seven meters long, can carry up to 15
standard pallets with a total weight of 20 tons when loaded.
To overcome the constraints of heavy batteries, Einride has
limited its vehicle to short trips of 200km (200kWh battery),
relying on a network of refills.
AUTONOMOUS TRUCKS
EUROPE IS PREPARING
A NEW AUTONOMOUS
HEAVY GOODS VEHICLE
CONVOY FOR 2021
In 2021, Europe plans to launch a new semi-automated
truck convoy (platooning) on its roads, the culmination
of a three-year project. This project, called ENSEMBLE,
is led by TNO, a Dutch research application. Six major
European manufacturers, DAF, Daimler, Iveco, MAN,
Scania and Volvo Group (Volvo Trucks & Renault
Trucks), will take part in the operation, as well as
equipment manufacturers NXP, ZF and Wabco, and
several research institutes such as IFSTTAR in France.
“The goal is to pave the way for platooning in Europe,”
say the partners in a joint statement. Within a single
convoy, trucks of several brands will run together,
generating fuel savings, and therefore CO2 emissions;
it should also help prevent traffic jams.
S PA I N
AND LOADERS FAIL
ON 44T
The professional unions of Spanish carriers and
loaders have separated without being able to make
the move from 40 to 44-tonnes. “The current market
situation does not allow carriers to respond favorably
to any request to increase the tonnage of trucks,” said
Fenadismer, the main federation of Spanish transport,
in a statement. Some measures have made progress,
particularly on taxation or sectoral regulations; however,
the main stumbling block remains the passage of the
maximum tonnage to 44 tonnes. Spanish shippers
believe that this measure would save €1.2 billion, but
carriers suggest that this proposal will not benefit them.
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