The Anonymous Widower

Mercedes eCitaro Fuel Cell Will ‘See The Light’ At UITP Summit 2023

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Sustainable Bus.

This is the first paragraph.

Daimler Buses will unveil the Mercedes eCitaro fuel cell at UITP Global Public Transport Summit in early June. At the group’s stand, visitors will have the opportunity to see the first series-production eCitaro electric bus with a fuel cell as a range extender. First order for the vehicles dates back to October 2022.

This paragraph describes the bus.

The Mercedes eCitaro in fuel cell bus version offers a stated range of approximately 350 kilometers without the need for recharging. This goes together a passenger capacity, on the articulated version, of up to 128 passengers. The difference between the eCitaro fuel cell project and most of the fuel cell buses on the market stay in the battery capacity: while it’s common to feature a small LTO battery (below 50 kWh) accompanying the fuel cell module, the eCitaro is equipped with a battery capacity similar to its battery-electric counterpart (up to 392 kWh for the 18-meter).

It looks an impressive bus with a generous capacity and range.

But I doubt we’ll see many in the UK.

  • Motorists object to their blocking of junctions.
  • They were easy for dodging fares.
  • In London, they were dubbed Ken’s Chariots of Fire.

I don’t think politicians will chance them in the UK!

May 22, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | 1 Comment

Tevva Starts First Mass Production Of Electric Lorries In UK

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Professional Engineering.

These are the first three paragraphs.

Tevva is building its 7.5 tonne vehicles at Tilbury in Essex after it received European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA), meaning it can start producing and selling in volume across the UK and Europe.

The start-up has already started delivering its first mass-produced lorries to customers including Travis Perkins and Royal Mail. It expects to sell up to 1,000 in 2023.

Described as “ideal” for last mile and urban delivery fleets, the electric truck offers up to 227km range from its 105kWh battery on a single charge. It will be followed later in 2023 by a 7.5 tonne hydrogen-electric alternative. The hydrogen range extender will reportedly increase the range up to 570km.

That seems like a good start to me; certification, orders for a thousand and generous ranges with or without a hydrogen extender.

In Equipmake Hybrid To Battery Powered LT11, I described Equipmake’s battery-electric New Routemaster bus.

Both the battery-electric Routemaster and the Tevva truck seem to have generous ranges, so has better battery technology been developed.

 

January 13, 2023 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Tevva Lands $57m For Electric And Hydrogen Trucks

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.

This is the sub-title.

Tevva has secured $57m for its new London-based production facility to scale up manufacturing of its electric and hydrogen trucks.

It certainly looks like this well-connected company of Israeli origin, could be going places.

November 16, 2021 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

UK’s Tevva Uses Submarine Tech To Power Electric Trucks

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times of Israel.

The article is from April 2017 and starts with this paragraph.

Startup founded by Asher Bennett, brother of Israel’s education minister, aims to provide digital, emission-free vehicles.

This paragraph gives details of the man behind the company and their first sales.

Meanwhile, one UK company — Tevva Motors — has already got its first orders for repowering the trucks of delivery giants UPS, DHL and Switzerland’s Kuehne+Nagel with its components, including the batteries and motor, according to Tevva’s 48-year-old Israeli founder Asher Bennett. Bennett is the older brother of former entrepreneur turned right-wing politician Naftali Bennett, who is Israel’s education minister.

Since the article was written, Naftali Bennett has become Israel’s Prime Minister.

This paragraph explains how the trucks work.

The trucks Tevva repowers as well as those the company is planning to build from scratch next year at its new facility in Chelmsford are fully digital. “Every piece of information on our trucks is on the cloud,” Bennett said. The software and algorithms developed by the company automatically calculate the most efficient use of the battery and instruct the range extender when to kick in, without any input from the driver.

We’re already starting to see trains using similar techniques.

But as a time-expired Control Engineer, I would go a similar route.

It is a fascinating article, that deserves a full read.

September 28, 2021 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tevva Presents 7.5 Tonne Truck With Range Extender

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Electrive.

This is the first paragraph.

The English company Tevva has presented a 7.5-tonne truck that is supposed to have a range of up to 250 kilometres in electric drive mode and a range of up to 500 kilometres with the FC range extender activated. Production of the Tevva truck is scheduled to start in July 2022.

I like the concept, as it appears to give a reasonable range.

  • The design team behind the truck have a good pedigree.
  • The trucks are of a size to handle a useful load.
  • Larger trucks will be produced later.
  • The trucks will be built in a factory in the London Freeport.

I think we’ll see a lot more larger battery-electric vehicles with hydrogen range extenders.

September 28, 2021 Posted by | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | , , , | 1 Comment