What are the classic commercial vehicle manufacturers presenting this year? What are the latest vehicle trends? Many of the manufacturers are focusing this year on studies on autonomous driving. Some of the vehicle manufacturers already have electric vehicles in trial use with their customers. We take a look behind the scenes and report live from the IAA 2018.

The IAA 2018 was effectively kicked off by the two major global suppliers Volvo and Daimler in recent weeks.

Volvo presented its study of an autonomous, electrically powered towing vehicle in Berlin. The vehicle is barely bigger than the tires, but has no cab for a driver. In its place there is a standardised mounting with which the various trailers are to be driven autonomously through the country. The design is futuristic, the concept exciting, no question about it: the Swedes have succeeded in attracting the attention of the industry and mobility enthusiasts with their pre-presentation. We have already reported about the autonomous vehicle in a dedicated way, here you will find the link to the post.

A whole series of new announcements comes from Stuttgart

The global market leader in commercial vehicles, Mercedes-Benz/Daimler, came up with a series of announcements. After a construction period of around two years, Mercedes-Benz Vans has put its new plant in North Charleston in the US state of South Carolina into operation. There, the Sprinter is being built for the American market with immediate effect, which in German has become a kind of eponym for the ‘large vans’ segment.

The third generation of the Sprinter has further expanded its classic strengths and supplemented them with full connectivity and intelligent products and services. At the same time as the plant was opened, a deal was announced for 20,000 of these Sprinters, who will go to Amazon for their Delivery Service Partner Program. A sensational deal, one would like to be the responsible sales representative 🙂

After the presentation of the eSprinter in Hamburg this summer, the focus at the IAA will probably be on electric versions in particular. Daimler is particularly strongly represented in the electric commercial vehicle segment at the IAA 2018. The city bus Citaro as eCitaro, the smaller Vito Van as eVito or the new Actros with its sister model eActros, which was just presented in Berlin. Daimler is serious with electric versions for sure.

Vision URBANETIC live at IAA 2018

The prototype Vision URBANETIC will probably attract the greatest interest, which can be predicted without being clairvoyant. Presented last week in Copenhagen, the Swabians showed a revolutionary mobility concept there. Because this electrically powered vehicle abolishes the separation of goods transport and passenger transport. The autonomous vehicle will enable passengers and goods to be transported sustainably, efficiently and in line with demand. For example, people can be transported during the day and goods at night. We will look at this news separately again.

Read more from the category “Innovation”:

Electric commercial vehicles are highly popular

Hardly any of the other manufacturers who do not present one of their vehicles with an electric drive at the commercial vehicle trade fair. Here are a few examples.

With the DAF CF Electric, DAF presents an innovation truck in Hanover. In distribution transport with up to 40 tons, its field of application is the urban centres. Powered by a 210 kW (286 PS) electric motor it is based on a 170 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. It achieves a range of approx. 100 kilometres, compared to the other manufacturers rather at the lower end of the range scale. DAF’s first practical tests will be launched in these weeks.

Renault Trucks is competing in Hanover with two electrically powered trucks. The D Z.E. is a 16-ton truck designed for inner-city distribution traffic. The D Wide Z.E. is a 26-tonne truck with a special focus on waste transport. Renault is also presenting a world premiere: an autonomous, purely electric and networked vehicle study. The new ‘concept car’ is aimed at inner-city delivery traffic over the ‘last mile’. In addition, the French will present their entire range of commercial vehicles as well as the purely electric models Master Z.E., Kangoo Z.E., ZOE Cargo and Twizy Cargo.

In addition to the eTGE e-transporter, MAN’s Munich-based vehicle manufacturers are bringing the eTGM all-electric distribution truck to Hanover. The 26-ton truck has an output of 264 kW (359 PS) and will start its practical tests next year. There is already the MAN Lion’s City E electric city bus, which can be seen at the trade fair in the form of a prototype. With a drive of 160 kW (218 PS) to 270 kW (367 PS), the planned range of the city bus of approximately 200 kilometres is to be expected.

Scania will not bring its electric truck until 2019

Scania will not be launching a hybrid distribution truck until next year. In pure electric mode, the truck is to travel a full ten kilometres on the basis of the DC09 model. The highlight: instead of diesel, the combustion engine can also run on hydrogenated vegetable oil from renewable resources. This means that this truck could potentially demonstrate a balanced CO2 balance. But without any major innovations, the Swedes will not be able to get to Hanover.

There, the new Scania Interlink MD, powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and with a range of up to 1,000 km, is celebrating its premiere. As a result, Scania’s short-haul coaches can now take advantage of the wide range of alternative fuel options to offer sustainable transport performance. Scania will also showcase its battery-powered Scania Citywide low-floor bus, already in service in Östersund, northern Sweden.

What do the smaller manufacturers do?

In addition to these globally active commercial vehicle manufacturers, a wide range of vehicle manufacturers will be present at the IAA 2018. BYD comes from China with various product innovations. But the smaller commercial vehicles for delivery and passenger transport on the last mile are also eagerly awaited. Best example: the street scooter with its various vehicle types will certainly be an eye-catcher, especially when the trade fair opens to the public on Thursday.

Tomorrow you can read our preliminary report on the most exciting start-ups that we expect to see at the IAA and that we will certainly visit in person.