World's first electric hybrid race truck breaks cover
After the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix, electric race cars are on the lips of all South Africans. But now there’s something equally cool within the world of trucking: the world's first electric hybrid race truck has made its debut in Brazil.
Successful debut for VW Meteor Mission Zero
Yesterday (March 19), the VW Meteor Mission Zero – the world’s first race truck that combines combustion and electric engines – made its debut at Copa Truck in Goiânia, one of the most important motorsport events in Brazil. It was driven by the well-known professional racing driver, Brazilian Felipe Giaffone. It was an extremely successful debut; Giaffone achieved pole position in race one, which he went on to win.
The truck is the result of a development partnership between Volkswagen Truck & Bus, Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), Ciser, Giaffone Electric and truck racing series R9 Competições.
A member of the Traton Group, Volkswagen Truck & Bus is a manufacturer of commercial vehicles and one of the largest truck and bus assemblers in Latin America. It has been in business since 1981 and its products are sold in South Africa by MAN.
Brazilian company CBMM is a world leader in the production and commercialization of niobium products (niobium is a rare, soft, malleable, ductile, grey-white metal). Ciser is the largest manufacturer of fasteners in Latin America while Giaffone Electric – located in Cotia, São Paulo – is a startup whose main focus is the development and manufacturing of electric mobility projects for vans as well as light and heavy trucks.
All about reducing emissions
The truck racing programme is intended to serve as a laboratory of sorts in which new technologies will be tested under extreme conditions, with a focus on energy efficiency, safety, optimising weight, and carbon emission neutralization.
An important new feature included in the VW Meteor Mission Zero is the vehicle’s hybrid powertrain, which features an electric motor in addition to a standard diesel engine. The vehicle's electronic integration makes use of both traction systems (electric and combustion) in an intelligent and synchronized manner, together with an energy regeneration system known as KERS. These features were designed according to extremely strict safety standards.
“Volkswagen Truck & Bus demonstrates, once again, its pioneering spirit in the development of new technologies, technically supporting this initiative that seeks to advance the Brazilian category Copa Truck towards neutralizing vehicle carbon emissions, promoting a more sustainable competition,” explains Luciano Cafure, Marketing Director at Volkswagen Truck & Bus.
Niobium to the fore
In line with global trends towards adopting more sustainable technologies and thanks to this partnership with CBMM, the initiative is also leading the way through the use of advanced materials with niobium, which offers increased resistance and safety. It also reduces the vehicle’s weight, making the truck more competitive than ever.
The partners are also considering adopting nanocrystalline materials (alloys that, when used together with niobium, acquire a unique series of electromagnetic properties). These nanocrystalline materials are applicable to electronics and components, and they would increase energy efficiency during charging.
“Our focus is on progressively implementing and perfecting essential truck components. Niobium is a key element in this highly technological journey. Small additions of this metal, which presents unique properties, can increase the performance of the materials used, making the vehicle lighter and therefore allowing it to consume less fuel. Copa Truck is the perfect opportunity to take these materials and new components to the limit. It's like building a laboratory on the track. This will allow us to speed up the innovation process,” explains Érico França, Technical Specialist at CBMM, who has closely followed the development of the project.
New era in motorsport
The truck is expected to usher in a new era in global motorsport, with its release coming in ahead of similar initiatives that are still subject to discussion on other racetracks around the world.
“We believe that this is the opportunity to take this competition to a new level of performance and sustainability, which is an important step forward for the automotive industry,” Jackson Dal Comuni, Marketing Manager at Ciser, Latin America's largest manufacturer of fasteners, stated. “We are very excited to be supporting our driver Felipe Giaffone in yet another season of the Copa Truck, particularly given this innovative new initiative aimed at developing the world’s first hybrid truck that makes use of both combustion and electric engines.”
The man at the helm of this particularly unusual truck is also most enthusiastic. “I am very pleased to be participating in such an innovative and inspiring project alongside such incredible partners – CBMM, Volkswagen Truck & Bus, Ciser, Giaffone Electric and the R9 Competições – as well as Omni Financeira, a partner that I have already collaborated with on several projects. This will be an unforgettable year and will mark the start of a new journey towards sustainability in national motorsports,” says driver Giaffone. We wish him well!
- Giaffone came first in race one and 11th in race two. Full results are available here.
