Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2022 - 26

ORIGINAL
EQUIPMENT
Bollinger, Hyundai and Volvo provide clean-vehicle updates
NFI Industries ordered 60 enhanced Volvo VNR Electric trucks with a six-battery-pack configuration, which provides an operational range of up to 275 miles.
If there was any doubt that zero-emission work trucks are coming
- and, really, there isn't - the 2022 ACT Expo made it abundantly
clear they're on their way. Certainly, some of them are
already here. From creative ways to charge electric fleets to new
all-electric trucks, from more hydrogen power to the release of a
wide-ranging State of Sustainable Fleets report, there was plenty
to learn and see this year in Long Beach, California.
After dealing with COVID restrictions last year, pent-up demand
for this work-truck show resulted in attendance figures
that were up about 60% to more than 8,300 attendees, compared
to the partially virtual show that took place in August
2021. As packed as the week and convention center were, it's
reasonable to expect more at next year's ACT Expo: the event
is moving to the larger Anaheim convention center in 2023
because it's officially outgrown the space available in Long
Beach. Here are some examples of what's behind all the buzz:
Bollinger: Commercial EV production in 2024
Bollinger made a strategic shift in January to " postpone "
work on its B1 and B2 electric SUV and truck models in favor
of further developing its commercial vehicle platform for
Class 3 and larger vehicles. To that end, Bollinger announced
during the ACT Expo that it has selected Roush as its contract
manufacturer to assemble Bollinger's all-electric platforms
and chassis cabs.
The change in direction required Bollinger to remind visitors to
its booth what the company's all about, which explained the Class
5 platform on display in Long Beach alongside a B2 for eye candy,
according to CEO Robert Bollinger. The B2 was there to remind
26 August 2022
people of Bollinger's history and " to show that we've been in the
Class 3 commercial-ish kind of world, " for a while, he said.
Had they come to market, both the B1 and B2 would have
been Class 3 vehicles, even though they were marketed towards
individual buyers and not focused on the utility side of
the market. Under its new direction, Bollinger now will start
building its commercial EV lineup with the new Class 3 platform
before moving to larger vehicles.
" Basically, we're going in order, " Bollinger said. " Three first
and then 4, and 5, and 6. Class 3 is a much larger market than
the others combined, so that's the one to focus on. " Bollinger
said his company's updated plan is to have some of its Class 3
commercial vehicles running this year for tests and customer
ride-alongs. In 2023, the company plans to build the next round
of prototypes, design verification builds and more testing.
Bollinger admitted he's still being vague but said the company's
first year of full production is likely to be 2024 with
Roush's help. Both Bollinger and Roush are located in the Detroit
Metro area. Bollinger's headquarters are in Oak Park while
Roush's facility is in Livonia. " The beauty is they're only 20 minutes
from our headquarters, " he said. " Roush is also a wellknown
name and they can help us with road testing and all of
the engineering to get up to production. It's a great combo. "
Hyundai: Hydrogen Xcient trucks coming to U.S.
Hyundai used the 2022 ACT Expo to announce that the U.S.
should be a little more like Switzerland. The OEM didn't use
those words exactly, but it did announce that it would deploy
30 6x4 Xcient Fuel Cell Class 8 tractors to the Port of Oakland
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
VOLVO

Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2022