Navistar, VW will collaborate on electric truck, connectivity

[kscarbel2]

Reuters  /  September 26, 2017

DETROIT - Commercial truck partners Navistar International Corp and Volkswagen AG’s (VOWG_p.DE) Truck and Bus said on Monday they will launch an electric medium-duty truck in North America by late 2019, and develop common hardware and systems to connect trucks to the internet.

Volkswagen Truck Chief Andreas Renschler and Navistar Chief Executive Troy Clarke told Reuters in an interview the companies will also collaborate on the next generation of “Big Bore” diesel powertrains. Volkswagen last year agreed to buy a 16.6 percent stake in Navistar, based in Lisle, Ill. The companies closed the transaction and began collaborating earlier this year.

The companies are on track for projected cost savings of $500 million over the first five years of the alliance, Clarke said in a statement.

Commercial truck makers are investing in electrification as regulators and policy makers have stepped up pressure to curtail or eliminate pollution from diesel engines in big cities.

Navistar shares were trading about 1 percent higher in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new electric truck for North America will be a Class 6 or 7 truck based on a Navistar vehicle, and aimed at urban delivery customers.

Volkswagen will test nine electric trucks in Austria that will offer payloads of about 18 tons and ranges of about 180 kilometers between charges, Renschler said. Rival Daimler AG said last week delivered the first of a smaller range of electric delivery trucks to customers in New York.

The challenge for vehicle makers is to produce electric trucks that deliver competitive payload capacity and range at a cost that matches or beats the cost of diesel-powered vehicles.

“Ours is an industry where technology adoption is very deliberate,” Clarke said.

However, if cities do ban diesel trucks, “we have an offer,” Renschler said.

Renschler and Clarke said joint development of common hardware and software for connecting trucks to the internet, and of next-generation large diesel engines, could slash the companies’ costs.

Volkswagen plans to launch a cloud-based connectivity platform by the end of the year that will not be tied to a specific vehicle brand, and that will be the basis for the shared system.

The companies plan to ultimately connect 650,000 vehicles, and create a common marketplace for app developers, the companies said.

[kscarbel2]

Navistar-VW Alliance to Bring Electric Truck, Integrated Powertrain to Market

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  September 25, 2017

ATLANTA – The Navistar-Volkswagen Truck & Bus Alliance has borne fruit faster than either company expected, and officials announced Monday at the inaugural North American Commercial Vehicle Show. they will develop a proprietary, integrated powertrain; a common connected vehicle and cloud platform; and an electric-powered Class 6/7 truck.

Navistar expects to be in a position to launch its first medium-duty electric powered vehicle for the U.S. and Canadian markets in late 2019 or early 2020. 

"We believe the Class 6/7 vehicle is ideal for electric powertrain solutions in the near term, given its abundance of packaging space, and that these vehicles typically run short distances and can depot to recharge at the end of the day,” said Troy A. Clarke, chairman, president and CEO, Navistar.

Clarke pointed out that Navistar was “probably ahead of its time” when it launched the eStar electric vehicle back in 2010, “but we never gave up believing there is an application for electric commercial vehicles in the North American commercial vehicle market,” he said.

Clarke also noted that electric power for commercial vehicles is particularly growing in urban areas, “where congestion often leads to air quality issues.”

In fact, Volkswagen has already delivered the first 10 electric trucks to an Austrian customer for testing, said Andreas Renschler, CEO of Volkswagen Truck & Bus. “For us, the customer’s view is first and foremost in priority. If the customer tells us what he or she wants to do with electric trucks we can deliver.”

Renschler said he couldn’t answer media questions about things like how many such vehicles they expect to sell, because “Of course it depends on customers. The question for us is not to tell them what to do; they tell us what we should do with such a solution, but we can offer the innovation. I think electrical buses for example are important, but also the medium truck, with so called last mile, we see a good chance for the customer to be able to use it.”

Integrated Powertrain

In preparation for the next greenhouse gas emission regulations globally, Navistar and VW also are collaborating on a fully integrated, next-generation diesel big bore powertrains for North America, launching in 2021.

However, the two companies would offer no further details.

“We'd love to say a lot more about that,” Clarke said, but didn’t want to divulge too much of the company’s future plans for fear of how the competition might use it against them. “I guarantee you this, the next one of these shows in 2019 it will all be very evident.”

Asked if the powertrain would also include a proprietary transmission, Clarke and Renschler were noncommittal, saying such things were “possible.”

Converging Connectivity

Navistar and Volkswagen Truck & Bus also announced their intention to converge their connectivity activities – OnCommand Connection and RIO, Volkswagen Truck & Bus's digital brand – to a Volkswagen Truck & Bus global connected vehicle platform. The first step will be the adoption of common, in-cab connecting device hardware. This would serve as a major step toward creating a global connected platform, covering roughly 650,000 vehicles worldwide, "making it the world's largest global ecosystem for commercial vehicles, once the migration is completed," Clarke said.

Volkswagen Truck & Bus expects to launch the cloud-based, brand-independent platform by the end of the year, which will be the basis for the cooperation.

"Future transportation will massively be building on connectivity, as this will make our world much more efficient," said Renschler. "The ecosystem we are about to create with our common platform will drive our strategic alliance to the next level."

Joint Venture

Navistar also reported that the procurement joint venture – Global Truck & Bus Procurement LLC – it created with Volkswagen Truck & Bus is off to a strong start. The team has met with more than 250 new and existing suppliers, and to date, have completed 40 joint bidding contracts.

"We're on track to achieve our expected cost savings thanks to our fast start with the procurement JV and the great progress on our technology collaboration," said Clarke. "As a result, we are in a much more competitive position today in the areas that are quickly revolutionizing our industry globally.”

“Navistar is now writing the next chapter of our story,” Clarke said. “Unlike any time in our history, we are positioned to win, and we will. We have the products, we have the dealers, we have the partner, and most importantly we have the will to win. We have the resolve to fight the next battle and the one after that.”

.

[kscarbel2]

Navistar, VW to develop new diesel engines, medium-duty electric truck

Neil Abt, Fleet Owner  /  September 25, 2017

ATLANTA - Navistar International Corp. said it plans to develop fully integrated diesel big bore powertrains in conjunction with Volkswagen Truck & Bus for the North American market in 2021.

The announcement was part of a joint media event on Sept. 25 at the North American Commercial Vehicle show. VW last year agreed to purchase a 16.94% stake in Navistar – a deal that formally closed in March.

At NACV, the companies also said they will develop an electric-powered, medium-duty vehicle for the United States and Canada in late 2019 or early 2020.

“Our alliance with Volkswagen Truck & Bus is allowing us to move much more quickly into electric propulsion thanks to our ability to leverage their technology investments and components in segments of the market where we’re already a leader,” said Troy A. Clarke, Navistar’s chairman, president, and CEO. “We believe the Class 6/7 vehicle is ideal for electric powertrain solutions in the near term, given its abundance of packaging space, and that these vehicles typically run short distances and can depot to recharge at the end of the day.”

During the press event, Clarke and Andreas Renschler, CEO of Volkswagen Truck & Bus, unveiled the companies will converge their connectivity platform – Navistar’s OnCommand Connection and VWs RIO – creating a single global connected platform that would cover about 650,000 vehicles worldwide. That will begin with the adoption of common, in-cab connecting device hardware. 

Apart from the news related to the joint venture, Navistar shared a series of other developments, including the launch of the HV truck available with the International A26 12.4 liter engine.

Additionally, it said a 51-inch sleeper cab is now an available for both its HX520 and HX620 vocational models. The A26 engine is also now an option for the full HX series, Navistar said.

Several upcoming enhancements to OnCommand Connection were also shown, including a “live action” feature that can better predict problems with parts before there is a failure.

.