The prestigious award was handed over to Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Management, Daimler Truck AG and Sven Ennerst, Head of Daimler Trucks Product Engineering, at the company’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks received the highly sought-after accolade for its electromobility solutions – specifically its eActros battery-electric heavy-duty truck (BEV), which is planned to go into series production in 2021, and its Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, a hydrogen-based fuel-cell electric concept truck (FCEV), which is planned to start operational customer trials in 2023.
Daum expressed delight at receiving the award. “We are honoured and proud that the renowned International Truck of the Year jury has recognized our eActros and our GenH2 Truck with the prestigious 2021 Truck Innovation Award. This is strong affirmation that we’re on the right track with our strategy clearly focusing on genuinely locally CO2-neutral technologies: battery power and hydrogen-based fuel cells. This combination enables us to offer our customers the best vehicle options, depending on the application. With the eActros, we have demonstrated in recent years that locally CO2-neutral urban distribution is already possible today. And with our GenH2 Truck, we have additionally presented our specific concept for heavy-duty fuel-cell trucks to perform flexible and demanding long-distance haulage,” he noted.
Introducing the award
But, what’s the Truck Innovation Award all about? It was introduced in 2019 in order to acknowledge innovation within the commercial vehicle industry – trucks have changed more in the past decade than in the previous century. The Truck Innovation trophy, which acknowledges both the enormous technological changes and the energy transition that are taking place within the automotive sector, is awarded by the International Truck of the Year (IToY) jury, a group of 25 commercial vehicle editors and senior journalists, representing major trucking magazines from Europe and South Africa (represented by Charleen Clarke, writer of this article).
According to IToY rules, a Truck Innovation Award nominee must be an advanced-technology vehicle with a gross vehicle weight over 3.5-tons either fitted with an alternative driveline or with an alternative fuel system. Otherwise, it must feature specific high-tech solutions with regard to connectivity (whether semi or fully autonomous driving systems), a “platooning” capability, or advanced support services such as remote diagnostics.
With a winning score of 128 votes, Mercedes-Benz’s trucks fought off the competition from Volvo Trucks’ heavy-duty BEV concepts and DAF’s second-generation CF Electric. Dekra collated the IToY jury members’ votes and certified the final result.
eActros already being tested
Back in 2018, the eActros celebrated its world premiere. The company now has a fleet of these vehicles that are being tested during day-to-day operations at customers. The 18- or 25-ton truck is based on a regular (as in diesel-powered) Mercedes-Benz Actros – but, of course, it is an electric truck and so it has a lot of unique parts.
For instance, there are two electric motors close to the hubs of the rear axle with an output of 126 kW each and a maximum torque of 485 Nm each. This translates to 11 000 Nm – equivalent to that of a conventional truck. 240 kWh lithium-ion batteries provide power for the eActros, which is ideally designed for urban distribution with a range of up to 200 km. Depending on the available charging power, the batteries can be fully charged within two hours (at 150 kW).
H2 will have 1 000 km range
The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, on the other hand, is a fuel-cell truck with a range of up to 1 000 km. The world premiere of this truck took place in September this year. The GenH2 is fuelled by liquid (instead of gaseous) hydrogen. Thanks to its higher energy density, the vehicle’s performance is planned to be equal to that of a comparable conventional diesel truck. The series production version of the GenH2 Truck will have a gross vehicle weight of 40 tons and a payload of 25 tons.
It is equipped with two stainless-steel liquid-hydrogen tanks, which have a particularly high storage capacity of 80 kilograms (40 kg each) for covering long distances. The stainless-steel tank system consists of two tubes, one within the other, that are connected to each other and vacuum insulated. In the series version of the GenH2 Truck, the fuel-cell system will supply 2 x 150 kilowatts and the battery will provide an additional 400 kW.
Why Merc won
So, why did Mercedes-Benz Trucks win this sought-after international award? Martti Peltonen, who represents Finland on the jury, was impressed because the technology could be applicable to his country. “Due to the location of our country, we have a rather long cold period in Finland every year, when vehicles produce more emissions than usual. In order to reduce environmental damage, Finnish companies and transport operators are very interested in all functional solutions that help reduce emissions from heavy traffic. The solutions offered must be able to provide a sufficient operating range for trouble-free transport. However, the transition to new technology from traditional diesel equipment must be easy and easy to use in everyday life. Daimler Trucks' new e-mobility solutions seem to make this possible,” he points out.
Ricardo Carvalho, who represents Portugal, was impressed with the exterior design of the GenH2 Truck. “I voted for Mercedes-Benz because this impressed me. The technology also gets the thumbs up. It uses liquid hydrogen, which is better than gaseous. The tanks are smaller, so they will be lighter. Mercedes-Benz has a great basis to create a hydrogen truck for long haul,” he notes.
The Irish jury member, Jarlath Sweeney, says the award is a tribute to the company’s industry-leading standing in the marketplace. “In essence, this award is a just reward to Daimler Trucks’ Mercedes-Benz Truck Division for constantly being at the forefront of technical innovation in developing products and services to meet future trends. Electro-mobility, as a zero-emission energy alternative, is key to reducing road transport’s carbon footprint into the future and the eActros and GenH2 fuel cell truck pave the positive way in this direction,” he believes.
Vassilis Daramouskas agrees. “Mercedes-Benz won because the eActros is a mature, roadworthy electric vehicle with adequate performance for everyday use, and the new purpose-built heavy-duty electric platform is a decisive leap forward towards zero-emissions long haul trucks,” the jury member representing Greece maintains.
IToY chairman Gianenrico Griffini (who represents Italy on the jury) also concurs. “Shaping CO2 neutral transport requires the swift development of battery-electric and fuel cell trucks. This development needs to be supported by a long-term electro-mobility strategy, which is precisely what Mercedes-Benz Trucks is doing,” he points out.
Jan Voet, who represents Belgium on the jury, says that the eActros stands out as a vehicle that combines all the strong points of the combustion engine Actros, as far as safety, reliability and driver comfort goes, with the innovative electric driveline. “Although electric drive is not a technical novelty as such, Mercedes-Benz provides the hauliers with a complete and thoroughly thought-through environment in which to operate the vehicle: charging capacity and charging capability are seen as integral parts of the use of these state-of-the-art green trucks,” he says.
Álvaro Pedroche is very impressed with the range on offer. “We all know that the problem with electric propulsion is autonomy. On this occasion, Mercedes-Benz Trucks is taking another step forward with the GenH2 Truck and the eActros Long Haul, as well as with the development of the hydrogen fuel cell, which makes it possible to reach up to 1 000 km, something that companies are increasingly taking into account,” says the Spanish jury member.
Germany’s Oliver Willms commends the company’s testing programme. “Mercedes-Benz has already started testing the eActros. Other companies make a lot of noise, but we don’t see any actual tests. The new eActros is one of many e-trucks that are market ready. But Mercedes is famous for doing a job very accurately before selling new technology. I think the eActros is the most well-proven vehicle to enter the e-scene,” he contends.
On the other hand, Aleksander Głuś, who represents Poland on the jury, believes that hydrogen propulsion is the future. “The H2 seems to be the first vehicle which shows how a truck manufacturer may combine the ‘old chassis’ with a new powertrain. It is somehow one step forward when compared to the Nikola/Iveco truck. Mercedes-Benz Trucks has demonstrated clear determination to develop a hydrogen long-haul truck – and this is really the future of long-haul trucking in Europe,” he enthuses.
Hats off to Mercedes-Benz Trucks for showing us the future!
Comment from Daimler Trucks and Buses Southern Africa:
This is an incredible achievement for our Mercedes-Benz Truck Brand and comes at a time while we locally are still basking over the 2020 International Truck of the Year title awarded to the new Actros, which we successfully launched in South Africa earlier this year. We are truly proud to be a part of an organisation that is continuously redefining and shaping the future of the trucking industry as we know it and certainly look forward to introducing these innovative front runners in our market in the future. These consecutive awards indeed show that Mercedes-Benz Trucks truly delivers Trucks you can Trust!
Michael Dietz, CEO of Daimler Trucks and Buses Southern Africa
