BUSINESS FLEET AFRICA | October 2022
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Mercedes-Benz Vans and electric vehicle
manufacturer Rivian has announced
the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding to initiate a strategic
partnerships, which will see the two
companies cooperate on the production
of electric vans.
The companies intend to establish a
new joint venture with the purpose of
investing in, and operating, a factory in
Europe to produce large electric vans for
both Mercedes-Benz Vans and Rivian.
The goal is to build an all-new electric
only production facility leveraging an
existing Mercedes-Benz site in Europe.
The companies envisage production
optimised vehicle designs for efficient
manufacturing on common assembly
lines. The aim is to produce to large
vans, one based on the Mercedes-Benz
electric-only platform and the other
based on the second-generation elec-
tric-van, Rivian Light van platform.
The joint venture mirrors the common
objectives of Mercedes-Benz vans and
Rivian, with both companies planning to
rapidly scale the production of electric
vans to help the world transition to clean-
er transportation. By working together,
they will be able to leverage operations
synergies and substantially improve cost
efficiency to help make the vans more
affordable for commercial customers
driven by total cost of ownership. BFA
Mercedes-Benz Vans and Rivian move to
partner on electric van production
Volvo Trucks will deliver fully electric heavy-duty trucks to
Amazon in Germany by year-end. The 20 Volvo FH Electric
trucks are expected to drive more than one million road
kilometres annually, fuelled with electricity instead of diesel.
Heavy goods vehicles and other commercial vehicles make
up around 36% of Germany’s domestic transport emissions,
which makes road transport decarbonisation an important
issue to address.
“Big actors in the transport business play a key role in
leading the industry’s efforts to lower its carbon footprint.
Therefore I´m glad that Amazon is working with us to help
reduce their emissions in longer and heavier transport as-
signments,” says Jessica Sandström, Senior Vice President of
Product Management at Volvo Trucks.
Volvo Trucks started the series production of heavy-duty
electric trucks in September this year and the availability of
electric trucks for inter-city and regional haulage marks an
important milestone for decarbonizing road transport.
“Globally we now have six electric truck models ready to
order and in series production to meet the increasing demand
for decarbonizing goods transports. This is an encouraging step
forward for reducing climate change impacts,” added Sandström.
The electric versions of its most important product range –
the heavy-duty Volvo FH, Volvo FM and Volvo FMX trucks – will
play a vital role in reaching Volvo Trucks’ global target that
in 2030 50% of all-new trucks sold will be battery or fuel cell
electric. These electric heavy-duty trucks can operate at a total
weight of 44 tonnes and the three models mentioned represent
around two thirds of the company’s sales.
For Amazon, the trucks will replace their diesel counterparts
and play a key role in electrification initiatives through its
transportation chain.
“Amazon is committed to decarbonizing its fleet, and the
middle mile has been a notoriously hard-to-abate sector,”
explains Andreas Marschner, Vice President Transportation
Services Europe at Amazon. “That’s why welcoming these
electric heavy goods vehicles from Volvo into our fleet is such a
critical milestone. We’re operating one of the fastest-growing
commercial transportation electrification programs, and we’ll
continue to invest and innovate to decarbonize and deliver
packages to customers with zero emissions.” BFA
Volvo to supply Amazon with 20 heavy-duty electric trucks