Transport & Trucking Australia issue 144

www.truckandbus.net.au Issue 144 2023

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A STAR IS BORN

BRISBANE TRUCK SHOW COVERAGE ISSN 2206-1495

9 772206 149012 >

44

SCANIA 660 V8 ROAD TEST HINO HYBRID VS DIESEL FUSO SHOGUN 510 TIPPER TEST SEEKING A BIGGER MAN

Care.

It’s what we do.

At Isuzu, we’ve always taken great care of our customers.

We’re Australia’s number one truck… an honour we’ve held for over three decades.

That means more businesses put their trust in us than any other truck brand.

We understand that reputations are riding on us and that’s why Isuzu Care is more than just an aftersales service package.

It’s part of our DNA. From day one, we support customers and demonstrate that reliability is everything. We pride ourselves on being proactive and always going the extra mile.

And as we look to new frontiers, we’re finding new ways to help our customers exceed their goals.

Isuzu Care is what sets us apart.

Always has, always will.

FSA/ISZS1660 FSA/ISZS1660

CONTACT DETAILS

FEATURES

PO Box 7046 Warringah Mall NSW 2100

14 WE’RE BACK BABY!

www.truckandbus.net.au admin@truckandbus.net.au Enquiries 02 9938 6408 Follow us on Twitter #truckandbusnews Follow us on Facebook at Truck and Bus Australia

Publisher Jon Thomson admin@truckandbus.net.au Editor in Chief Jon Thomson Art Director Fiona Meadows fiona@kududesign.com.au Advertising Sales Jon Thomson Mobile 0418 641 959 admin@truckandbus.net.au Editorial Contributors Barry Flanagan, Mark Bean, Warren Caves, Peter Barnwell and Joel Helmes

It was a chance to throw off the shackles of the pandemic era and get back to the celebration of heavy vehicles that it always has been. The Brisbane Truck Show was back to full strength and full of optimise after a pandemic restricted event two years ago. We went along to take a look at the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest truck show.

IN THIS BUSINESS, YOU NEED THE BEST TO SUCCEED

20 GOTTA LOVE A V8

Scania’s sales volumes have been rising steadily in recent times and more and more fleets have embraced the brand as a safe, fuel efficient and high performing option. The latest 660hp V8 version of Scania’s R Series is a prime example of this as we learnt first hand on a recent road test.

26 A STAR IS BORN

As we previewed late last year Western Star now has its first all new truck range in decades, and certainly the first designed under the Daimler regime that took over the brand mid-way through the early 2000s.

We took a new Western Star 48X for a day long test run covering around 300km recently, and came away impressed.

32 TAKING A GUN TO A SWORD FIGHT

In Japanese legend a Shogun is the most powerful leader, the strongest military hard man, ruling with an iron fist. When Fuso named its flagship model Shogun there was apparently no intention by the company’s bosses in Japan to offer it with the 510 hp 13 litre Daimler engine. Making that engine available was an idea born here in Australia by local Daimler management. We went to Queensland’s Gold Coast recently to try one in tipper configuration.

38 A S-URPRISE WAY

If there is an established truck brand in the Australian market that has seen more false starts, over promises, executive changes or loss of market share in the past 10 years than Iveco, then we could not name them. The brand recently launched its new flagship S-Way models and after an extended drive up the Pacific Highway on an overnight trip we were impressed and surprised by this new truck. Now let’s see if they can sell it.

44 HYBRID V DIESEL

There’s been a subtle change in the language being used by Hino when it comes to it’s hybrid trucks.

Where once they simple called them hybrids, the company has now labelled them electric hybrids.

It is a subtle change that could be viewed as either a way of papering over the fact that Hino does not have a pure battery electric of its own yet, nor does it seem likely it will have one in the next few years, or that it is merely emphasising the efficiency of a boost of an electric/diesel hybrid combination. We drove the latest spec Hino Hybrid up against a diesel recently to see the comparison.

50 SEEKING A BIGGER MAN

At the Brisbane Truck Show recently we sat down with MAN’s boss of the Asia pacific region, Thomas Hemmerich, along with local distributor Penske Australia’s boss of on highway operations, Craig Lee, to hear the brand’s plans to lift the volume and profile of the German marque in the Australian truck and bus market.

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Ford’s impressive flagship dual cab ute the Raptor has been given a serious upgrade in its latest new generation Ranger line up, with a new power plant, and even better suspension packaging making this bird of prey one that commands serious respect. Here is our road test.

60 COMPANY CAR: BORN TO BE WILD

The question we fielded more than any other while we were driving the Cupra Born was ‘what’s a Cupra?’. It is a fair question given its relatively recent arrival on the Australian market and the lack of awareness in the Cupra brand. In short it is the new name for the Spanish subsidiary of Volkswagen, Seat. We recently tried the first electric Cupra on the market, the Born and found an interesting electric newcomer.

With Caltex Delo’s ISOSYN Technology, fleet owners and drivers can rely on extended service protection, maximised engine durability and minimised operating costs.

DEPARTMENTS

04 BACK TRACKS

Musings from the Editor

06 HIGHWAY 1

News and info from all over

64 NEW PRODUCTS

Paul’s latest advice on finances

Talk to your local distributor or find out more about Caltex fuels and lubricants. www.caltex.com/au/business-solutions

ALWAYS BACK SELF INTEREST

F

ormer PM, Paul Keating once famously said, ‘Always back Self Interest, it’s the only horse trying!’.

Keating’s wry words do ring true. It is in reality just human nature, and we by instinct pursue what is best for number one.

The quip from the ‘Gospel According to Paul’ came to mind the other day when the Federal government announced that, finally Australia’s heavy truck rules would allow new trucks to be the same width as those in Europe, 2.55 metres instead of our long time, anachronistic limit of 2.50 metres.

Think about that for a moment, the difference is just 0.05 metres, in other words five centimetres or 50 millimetres, around two inches in the ancient money.

Now that change, to many, may not seem like such a huge leap, and in fact it isn’t.

However think about how long it has taken for that rule to be changed in our Federal statutes. By our summation, the suggestion that Australian trucks should be allowed to have that extra five centimetres dates back 31 years to 1992 when the recommendation was first made by Austroads.

So why the delays when the rest of the world is at 2.55 metres and some jurisdictions are daring enough to stretch it another five centimetres to 2.60 metres?

Well, remember Old mate Paul’s words about self interest? The delays and obfuscation over lifting our game to match Europe and the US are all down to local niche interest groups wanting to supposedly protect their patches.

The main offenders in this regard, as far as we can tell, have been trailer manufacturers, along with local bus body builders, and to a lesser extent one of the local truck makers (there are only two these days, so you have a 50/50 chance of picking the one that was resisting).

Some people we spoke to, did also throw up that old hairy chestnut about our roads and traffic lanes being narrow, which is a total furphy, a standard Australian traffic lane is 3.5 metres wide, going down to 3.3 metres in some urban areas, so that is clearly not an issue, particularly when you

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consider how narrow some European roads and by ways are, and they cope with those ‘super’ wide 2.55 metre trucks.

No the main resistance was mounted by those local trailer and bus builders who felt that opening up the local rules would bring unfair competition from overseas trailer and bus builders, flooding our market with ‘cheap’ imports.

We struggle to understand their logic with these ‘excuses’ . There have been previous attempts to import trailers from the US, but as those who did bring them in found, they struggled to cope with Australian conditions. US and Europe both run much lighter equipment and lower overall masses and neither of those markets face the rough road conditions that we have to cope with here, so imported trailers have never gained a foothold here.

Apart from that competition is good for making industries stronger, and perhaps a better attitude from these vested interests would have been to toughen up a bit, rejig designs and make their product five centimetres wider.

The main benefit will be to enable new generation electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks to be sold here without expensive and time consuming modifications, and that has to be a good thing.

The 2.5 metre limit has already seen Daimler Australia withdraw the Mercedes Benz bus brand from sale here because its advanced Citaro bus is built to a 2.55 metre rule. To restructure it to meet unique Australian width rules was uneconomical.

The new rules don’t help it of course, because it doesn’t apply to buses and it is too late anyway.

As it has turned out, the new rules announced by Minister for infrastructure and roads, Carol Brown, only cover prime movers and rigid trucks. So the trailer and bus builders in the end got what they wanted, it doesn’t matter that those five added centimetres would have enabled operators to be more efficient and reduce fuel usage.

Several years ago the ATA quoted

research that indicates that if trailers were allowed to increase in allowable width to 2.6 metres, it would enable refrigerated trucks to utilise thicker insulated walls without loss of payload.

The ATA revealed that in 38 degree external temperatures, which are an increasingly regular climate scenario, the thicker insulated walls would reduce heat gain by 36 per cent and deliver a fuel saving of approximately 2,500 litres per typical refrigerated vehicle per year. That is a lot of money, around $5500 in today’s fuel prices, not to mention the environmental impact of that added fuel burn.

The stupid thing is that the current 2.5 metre width rules don’t include mirrors, tautliner turn buckles or other ephemera hanging off trucks and trailers, so trucks were often wider than the new 2.55 metre rules. Go figure.

Anyway the rules have changed now, and we can only hope that after 31 years there might be more logical and rational reform in our often arcane and illogical heavy vehicle rules, such as axle weight limits for electric trucks, but that is a whole other battle that is yet to be fully fought and won.

On a different note, in this issue of Trucking and Transport Australia we take you back for a full review of this year’s Brisbane Truck Show where electric and zero emission trucks were front and centre. We also road test Scania’s 660 V8, Western Star’s new 48X and Iveco’s brand new S-Way, all in B-double configuration, while also giving Hino’s re branded Hybrid Electric truck for a spin.

We also sat down with MAN’s man in charge of this part of the World, Thomas Hemmerich, as well as local dristributor Penske’s senior execs, to hear of the German Traton brand’s plans for building its sales volumes in Australia. And we also road test Fuso’s 510 hp Shogun flagship as a tipper.

All that and a whole lot more in this special ‘wide’ edition of Transport & Trucking, hope you enjoy the ride.

JON THOMSON

TO HAUL AND BACK SCAN TO FIND OUT MORE

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AFTER MORE than a decade of debate, and at some stages obfuscation, the Federal Government has finally announced that truck width limits have been lifted from 2.5 metres to 2.55 metres.

The historic announcement by the Federal assistant minister for

that Australians will still be deprived of new tech buses such as Daimler’s Mercedes Benz Citaro, which proved too expensive and difficult to comply for Australia and its relatively small volumes.

No mention has been made of any decision on changes to axle weights,

The Government says it has made the changes to the national road vehicle standards to facilitate the supply of safer trucks in Australia, to help reduce road trauma while bolstering freight productivity.

The Government says it is estimated that the changes will provide a net

infrastructure and transport, Carol Brown, was made today after years

which some makers have been calling for, that would better facilitator the

benefit of more than $500 million to the Australian economy.

of lobbying, discussions and delays, in what has to be the longest debate over the shortest dimensions. The

take up of battery electric trucks.

Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari said

In the announcement from Minister Brown, the Safer Freight Vehicles package includes the increase in the

five centimetre difference between

the electric vehicle industry has

overall width limit from 2.50 to 2.55

Australia’s truck width rules and those of Europe and America, has prevented many safer, new

been calling for the change for several years, and it congratulates the government for working

metres for new trucks that are fitted with a number of safety features.

The new width rules require safety

technology rich trucks from being

collaboratively with industry and

features which will include devices to

imported to Australia to potentially make our roads safer.

However the rule change does not

other stakeholders to deliver this important change. However the lack of movement on weight limits did

reduce blind spots, electronic stability control, advanced emergency braking, a lane departure warning system,

cover buses or trailers, which is

disappoint the electric vehicle lobby.

better reflective markings, and side

believed to be a concession to local bus body and trailer makers worried about being overrun by imported buses and trailers.

“We encourage the federal government to build on this announcement by introducing a mass concession (one tonne minimum)

guards to stop pedestrians and cyclists from being caught up under the rear wheels of trucks.

The Minister said that trucks fitted

As far as T&TA can tell, fully built up

for electric trucks, and making it

with these safety features will ‘save

imported buses are already capturing an increasing percentage of bus sales in Australia, while imported trailers

cheaper and attractive for Australian businesses wanting to embrace this technology. More broadly, we need

lives and prevent serious injuries to vehicle occupants, cyclists and pedestrians’.

have been tried here before, but

a National Electric Heavy Vehicle

Allowing wider trucks on our roads

have never been able to demonstrate any decent degree of longevity in Australian conditions. This means

Strategy that outlines a plan to decarbonise our heavy vehicle fleet over the long haul,” Jafari said.

will also reduce the number of road freight trips businesses will need to take, saving them money and

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TRUCK SALES

lowering their environmental impact.

Additionally, a number of safety devices and sensors will be able to be fitted to trucks without counting towards the width and length measurements including front and kerb view mirrors to better see around the front-left corner of the vehicle, external parts of camera monitor systems for improved indirect vision, blind spot sensors, and cross-view mirrors to see in front of bonneted vehicles.

The Government pointed out that this will ensure manufacturers and owners are not disadvantaged by fitting trucks with these road safety technologies.

The changes under the Safer Freight Vehicles package will came into effect from Sunday 1 October 2023.

Assistant minister Carol Brown said the Safer Freight Vehicles package responds to direct calls from industry to increase the width limit of trucks and follows extensive public consultation and feedback.

“These changes will be a real game changer for industry, businesses and other road users, as they will save lives by adopting technology to reduce the likelihood of crashes, while also lowering freight costs and supporting better environmental outcomes,” Minister Brown said.

“Our truckies play a vital role in the Australian economy and our day to day lives, ensuring we can access the food, medicines and other goods we need,” she said.

“Today’s announcement will mean they can carry out their work more safely and efficiently, so they and

“The changes introduced by the Safer Freight Vehicles package will ensure the safest vehicles are available in Australia - helping to keep drivers, pedestrians and all road users safe,” Petroccitto added.

though it has taken more than a

generation battery electric trucks.

decade and three governments for the changes to be affected

Scania Australia’s director of truck sales, Ben Nye said that Scania

“This announcement of the Safer Freight Vehicles Package

welcomes the decision to implement the 50mm width expansion for new

HVIA boss, Todd Hacking said the

demonstrates the strong, trusted working relationship that exists between the Truck Industry Council and the Federal Government.” Said McMullan ‘As the industry technical experts, TIC has drawn upon its members’

trucks as this will allow it to fit additional safety systems to its trucks, systems that have been commonplace in Europe for some time, “A further benefit is the ability to fit low rolling resistance tyres and aero enhancing panels to drive down fuel

historic announcement is a huge step

world-wide technological and

consumption and emissions even

forward for the industry and HVIA’s many members who will benefit.

“HVIA has listened to its members

practical knowledge to advocate for the introduction of advanced safety features, that are core elements of

further. We also look forward to an early ruling on front axle weight exemptions to allow more of our

and advocated tirelessly for this change,” he said

this Safer Freight Vehicles Package, well before they are mandated, with

100% Battery Electric Vehicles to be brought to market,” Nye said.

“Removing unnecessary roadblocks and impediments to truck safety and

the result being that road users will be safer on Australian roads.

productivity underpins what we do, and we thank Minister Brown’s office

‘All safer freight vehicles will now be equipped with lane departure

“Several years ago, the NHVR identified current width limits as a barrier to the take up of safety technologies in our Vehicle Safety and

for recognising the importance of this reform,” Hacking said.

Hacking said the change harmonises

warning, autonomous emergency brake systems, side under run protection, conspicuity markings and

Australia’s truck width limits with

stability control,” McMullan continued.

Environmental Technology Uptake

many overseas markets and allows manufacturers to introduce the next generation of safer, cleaner, and more

A spokesman for Brisbane based truck maker Volvo Group said the changes to the width rules are good

productive trucks, without needing

news and a big step forward for the

costly re-design or re-engineering.

Truck Industry Council CEO Tony McMullan has laid claim to some

industry, and it hopes that there will be more regulatory reform, including increased axle weights, to more

of the credit for the changes, even

easily facilitate the take up of new

those they share the road with can get home safe at the end of each trip,” the Minister concluded.

NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto said the regulator had long advocated for increased harmonisation of Australian vehicle standards with global standards.

“These changes will allow manufacturers to bring their latest designs, fitted with a full suite of safety and environmental technologies, to market in Australia,” Petroccitto said.

Plan (Vehicle SETUP).

“We have been working with the Commonwealth, our partners and industry to explore how we can enact change to align with international standards and promote the highest possible level of safety.

Petroccitto also said that the NHVR will continue to work with the National Transport Commission and Governments to reflect the new changes in the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

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MIGHTY ELECTRIC ON SALE HYUNDAI ANNOUNCES INITIAL SIX DEALER NETWORK HYUNDAI HAS ANNOUNCED that its

and a kerb weight for the cab

base light-duty commercial truck,

such as Hyundai Motor Company

new Mighty Electric light duty truck is finally on sale and will be available through an initial network of six

chassis truck of 3,250 kg and a GVM of 7300kg. Although Hyundai is proclaiming a payload of 4050kg,

for businesses wanting to reduce their driving emissions,” said Hyundai Australia, chief operating officer,

Australia was moving into this market.

“There is no doubt that the era of zero driving emission commercial vehicles

dealers around the country.

this doesn’t include the wight if any

John Kett.

is upon us, and that Hyundai Motor

The sales and distribution of the electric version of its Mighty Electric truck will be priced from $150,000

body, which will significantly reduce that payload figure.

Hyundai says the Mighty Electric

“The Mighty Electric is best suited to urban environments, with its zero driving emissions, a quiet electric

Company Australia will deliver to customers a real-world, commercially viable product that meets their needs

plus government charges and on road costs, and will initially be offered as a

will be offered with a five year/200,000km vehicle warranty

motor and high energy efficiency at lower speeds. The smoothness

and aspirations,” said Mr Kett.

The Hyundai Mighty Electric uses

Cab Chassis, with a Hyundai Genuine Accessories alloy tray option as a dealer fit or for customers free to fit

and eight year/400,000km battery warranty, with service intervals set at 12 months or 20,000km,

and quietness of operation will help reduce driver fatigue and enhance road safety.

a permanent magnet synchronous motor generating 120kW of power and 320Nm of torque, with drive

themselves.

whichever comes first, with service

“When we previewed the Mighty

to the rear axle via a single-speed

A pantech body will be available in due course according to Hyundai while the genuine alloy tray will be

pricing has been calculated out to 12 years/240,000km, which Hyundai says should cost less than $4300. for

Electric at the Brisbane Truck Show in May, we were overwhelmed by the level of serious interest in the vehicle

reduction gear turning a propellor shaft and a final drive ratio is 5.375:1 It has a maximum speed of 100km/h,

4,200mm long and 2,353mm wide

the first five years/100,000km.

from operators who were eager to

which is more than some EV trucks

on the 6140mm long Electric truck which boasts a 3300mm wheelbase

“The Hyundai Mighty Electric makes for the ideal last mile or back-to-

sample the product. They were also encouraged that a well-known OEM

and makes motorway driving a safer and easier experience.

008 www.truckandbus.net.au

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IN FOR THE LONG HAUL MERCEDES-BENZ UNVEILS ITS NEW HEAVY HITTING EACTROS BATTERY ELECTRIC TRUCK MERCEDES-BENZ Trucks has

which is why it has been called the

unveiled its first series production version of its battery-electric long-

eActros 600. The company says it features a new, particularly efficient

haul eActros in Germany, revealing the eActros 600 today as a world premiere to an international audience

electric drive axle which has been developed in-house, which it says is one of the reasons that has enabled

at an event south of Hamburg.

the e-truck to achieve the 500 km

The eActros 600 has been designed for

The manufacturer says this heavyduty electric truck will define the new standard in road freight transport in

range without intermediate charging.

Mercedes says says that this means that the truck will be able to travel

a GCM of up to 44 tonnes and with a standard European semitrailer, it will have

terms of technology, sustainability,

significantly more than 1,000

design and profitability for e-fleet operators.

Mercedes Benz is claiming a range

kilometres per day. with intermediate charging during the prescribed driver breaks without megawatt-charging.

of up 500 kilometres as from its high capacity 600 kilowatt hour battery,

The company claims that around 60 per cent of long-distance journeys of

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freight transport towards CO2neutrality like no other truck with a three-pointed star.

“It is characterised by highly innovative drive technology that can offer our customers particularly high energy efficiency and thus profitability. This makes entry into e-mobility even more attractive for fleet operators,” Rådström said,

Benz says the eActros 600 has three battery packs, each with 207 kWh with an installed total capacity of 621 kWh using lithium iron phosphate cell technology (LFP) with a long service life.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks development

with almost no interruption in torque.

Mercedes-Benz has developed two power take-offs for the eActros 600, with an electric-mechanical power take-off making it possible to operate hydraulic or mechanical work

engineers at have apparently designed the eActros 600 to meet the same durability requirements as a

equipment such as tipping, sliding floor or silo semitrailers. It also has an electric DC or AC power take-off with

while the company says the three locations are also undergoing a transformation from diesel technology to competence centres for emissionfree transport.

Mercedes-Benz revealed the new eActros 600 at a new facility in Hamburg called the Break Autohof. The company says this new facility represents the

comparable conventional heavy-duty

an inverter that converts the direct

future of service along highways.

The company claims the CO2 footprint of the eActros 600 depends heavily on the electricity mix used for driving

long-haul Actros.

Mercedes says that means up to 1.2 million kilometres across ten years of

current from the high-voltage network into alternating current, providing solutions for refrigerated bodies or

The Break Autohof is a state-of-theart truck service centre with a free flow parking system with multi-

operation. and that at this point the battery state of health should still be

refrigerated semitrailers to operate.

Mercedes says that depending on the

energy stations, a three-star hotel, dining and shopping options as well

over 80 per cent.

The new Mercedes developed 800-volt electric axle features two

version, the various power take-off applications can cover a power range from 22 to 90 kW, allowing the system

as co-working, entertainment, inhouse brewery and lounge areas with

electric motors and a four-speed

to cover all common uses in long-

services including Click & Collect and Order@Table which are cloud-based

distance and distribution transport.

The company says the eActros 600 will be produced on the existing

and connected.

The facility is designed with the highest level of sustainability through

Mercedes-Benz Trucks customers in Europe are less than 500 kilometres.

In addition to CCS charging with up to 400 kW, Benz says the eActros 600 will later also enable megawatt

on important long-haul transport

operations and with the current

segments over the long term.

The company says that sales of the electric truck will start in Europe this

European energy mix, Benz claims the eActros 600 achieves CO2 savings of around 40 per cent compared to a

year with the start of series production

comparable diesel Actros and, with

charging (MCS).

planned for the end of 2024. with prime mover rigid variants of the eActros 600 from market launch.

fully renewable energies, of more than 80 per cent over the entire product life cycle of ten years from raw material extraction.

a payload of around 22 tons in the EU.

There is currently a fleet of around fifty prototype eActro 600s is being

transmission has been designed specifically for use in heavy-duty long-haul transport. The company

This corresponds to savings of around

says the electric motors generate a

assembly line in parallel to and

low impact wooden modules for the

The eActros 600 visually is fundamentally a new design with

built, some of which Benz says are set to be put into practical testing with

370 or 775 tons of CO2 Mercedes claims, and as a result says the eActros

clear lines and an aero shape.

Mercedes says the electric truck

customers.

CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Karin

600 can compensate for the higher CO2 footprint ex works due to its

continuous output of 400 kW, and a peak output of 600 kW, which it says ensures powerful acceleration,

alongside diesel trucks at the Mercedes-Benz Trucks plant at Wörth in Germany.

hotel, its own Solar power generation system and in the medium term, its own hydrogen production. The Break

high driving comfort and high driving

The electric drive components will

Autohof Hamburg is the first of many

is intended to set new standards replacing the majority of diesel trucks

Rådström, said the eActros 600 stands for the transformation of road

batteries within its second or first year of operation in long-haul transport.

dynamics adding that the full motor output is available most of the time

be produced at Mercedes plants in Mannheim, Gaggenau and Kassel,

planned to rolled out along Germany’s highway network.

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the dominant Japanese brands then

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the well know Korean brand could.

Behind Hyundai Volvo finished with 12 medium trucks , ahead of stablemate UD and Iveco both with seven, Mercedes and Sea Electric each with

NO QUARTER ASKED OR GIVEN

five, DAF with three and Man with a single medium in September.

In the light duty class Isuzu, was first

AMPOL TO CONDUCT RENEWABLE DIESEL TRIAL WITH HANSON

and daylight was again second. The market leader moved 573 light trucks for 44 per cnet share of the class,

VOLVO AND KENWORTH SET TO BATTLE IT OUT FOR HEAVY SUPREMACY INTO THE FINAL THREE MONTHS OF THE YEAR

while Fuso beat out Hino for second with sales of 237 Canters and 18.2 per cent share, compared with Hino’s 206 300 Series which gave it 15.8 per

LEADING AUSTRALIAN ENERGY COMPANY AMPOL HAS ANNOUNCED IT HAS TURNED TO MAJOR CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIER HANSON TO FORGE FORWARD WITH A NEW RENEWABLE DIESEL TRIAL

cent share of the category.

The Euro brands filled the next

AMPOL HAS ANNOUNCED it will conduct a renewable diesel trial, with

Ampol executive general manager of international and new business Brent

“Renewable diesel has an important role to play in the energy transition.

construction and building material supplier Hanson Australia confirmed as its first customer partner.

The trial will allow Ampol to get a practical understanding of the customer demand and market

Merrick says the trial strengthens Ampol’s position as a leading supplier of world-class quality fuels.

“Ampol is proud of the role it plays in supporting our customers. We are acutely aware that our customers’

We would like to thank Hanson for committing to this journey with Ampol.”

Hanson is a leader in building and construction materials with an extensive production and logistics

feasibility of renewable diesel in Australia. Ampol will supply Hanson

transport energy priorities are shifting and that partnering with industry

network across Australia.

“This trial furthers Hanson’s

month with 14 trucks, while VW and

with a blend consisting of 20 per cent renewable diesel and 80 per cent ultra-low sulphur diesel in addition to its Ampol Amplify additives.

The announcement of the renewable diesel trial follows Ampol’s recent partnership with Japan’s largest oil company, ENEOS, to explore the

leaders such as Hanson is vital in ensuring we continue to evolve,” Merrick says.

“This renewable diesel trial is another step in our development of a renewable fuels business in Australia. The availability of renewable diesel, particularly for hard-to-abate areas, is of particular

commitment to CO2 reduction across the supply chain, with innovation being the key to our roadmap,” Hanson Australia chief executive Phil Schacht says.

The trial will start in the coming weeks and run for approximately two months, with an evaluation process to be executed prior to

four spots in light duty with Iveco registering 95 Daily cab chassis models, Fiat 70 of its Ducato high trucks, Mercedes with 45 Sprinters and Renault with 38 Masters.

The surprise rising star in the light sector was Chinese brand Foton Mobility with 21 sales, all of them electric. Foton has gone from nothing just six months ago to have 1.6 per cent of the sector with rumours the brand has captured some significant fleet business with asn expanding

TRUCK SALES FIGURES from the Truck Industry Council for the month of September reveal that while there is some softening in parts of the industry, volumes year on year and for September are up on 2022 figures.

result in 2022. The market leader sold 1060 trucks in September, down about 228 on the same month last year, while its market share fell to 26.8 per cent, from 32.8 per cent this time in 2022. While the September

21.8 per cent market share, all in the heavy duty sector, while Volvo only managed 274 trucks, of which 262 were heavy duty models giving it and 18.8 per cent share of the class. While Volvo was ahead in the Heavy tally

Mercedes was fifth with `06 heavy sales.

Mack had another strong month with 83 heavy duty sales , ahead of UD on 73, Fuso on 65 , DAF with 53 and Hino on 39 rounding out the top

number of deliveries in coming

Ford carved up the remainder with

production of renewable fuels at the

interest as it does not require vast

exploring a wider roll out to Ampol’s

Truck sales for the month totalled 3954, a narrow 26 ahead of

numbers are off a little for Isuzu, it is still 702 units ahead of its YTD figures

by 16 trucks at the end of August, Kenworth’s strong result last month

ten. Behind that came Iveco with 27 new S-Ways, Freightliner with 26

three and one sales respectively.

Lytton refinery.

fleet or infrastructural changes.

broader customer base.

September 2022 ensuring the year to date sales volume for this year is

from 2022.

Hino was second overall with 447

has put it 26 trucks in front of its Swedish rival in September.

Cascadias, MAN on 21 and Penske stablemate Western Star on 18,

segment leader Mercedes , having

3217 trucks on the first nine months of 2022.

sales in September, capturing 11.3 per cent market share , while

Mercedes Benz was sixth overall in September, selling 156 trucks, with

while Dennis Eagle and Hyundai both cracked with singles.

its German rival by two units, while

Given September last year was an all time record for the ninth month ,the result this September has set a new

Japanese rival Fuso was third with 388 sales and 9.8 per cent share, down 80 trucks on its September

Scania seventh on 131, Iveco on 129, with Mack next on 83 and UD rounding out the top ten with 80 units

In the medium sector Isuzu knocked it out of the park once more recording 301 sales for the month to lead with

Ducato and VW moved 70 Crafters

benchmark, albeit by a small margin.

‘22 tally.

for the month.

a massive 46.6 per cent share of the

sales, which may be down to the

With three months to run, only a major disaster will prevent this year setting a new record for truck sales.

The fight for the heavy duty sector honours and for fourth place in the overall sales charts continues in a

With most of the attention focussed on Kenworth and Volvo’s battle for ascendency, it could be easy to

class. Hino also had a strong showing after months of supply and other issues, registering 202 sales for 31.3

model chase over and lack of stock.

With monthly sales regularly topping

close fought tussle between Volvo and

overlook Isuzu at third for the Heavy

per cent share, while Fuso was well

months with the Swedish maker

3500 sales per month, the industry woul dnbeed to sink below 3000 sales per month to miss out on a

Kenworth. The two locally assembled brands have been trading numbers all year with Kenworth leading the

Duty sector with 186 sales for its fleet of largely vocational offerings, which have benefited greatly since

behind with 86 sales and 13.3 per cent share.

Years after it first arrived in the

determined to try to take the heavy

new record.

Isuzu had another pleasing month

honours in September, following Volvo’s wins in the last few months.

the demise of the locally built Iveco Acco. Scania had another bumper

market Hyundai looks like it is starting to gather a sliver of traction

the market can break the sales

to lead the market, even though its numbers were slightly down on its

Kenworth topped the heavy sales tally in September with 304 trucks and

month with all its 131 sales coming in the heavy sector to be fourth, while

in medium duty finishing in fourth with 17 sales for September and 2.6

only tell how the remainder of the

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months catering to fleets looking to with to zero emission. Foton beat out Hyundai which had a reasonable

In vans Renault beat long time sold 192 of its Master vans just piping Fiat was third with 74 sales of its while Ford sold 58 Transits and Iveco posted a disappointing 25 Daily van

Kenworth and Volvo are sure to keep duking it out over the next three

crown from its long time rival while plenty of focus will also be in whether volume record yet again. Time will year will pan out.

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Truck Show

IT WAS A CHANCE TO THROW OFF THE SHACKLES OF THE PANDEMIC ERA AND GET BACK TO THE CELEBRATION OF HEAVY VEHICLES THAT IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN. THE BRISBANE TRUCK SHOW WAS BACK TO FULL STRENGTH AND FULL OF OPTIMISE AFTER A PANDEMIC RESTRICTED EVENT TWO YEARS AGO. WE WENT ALONG TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE’S BIGGEST TRUCK SHOW.

T

he Brisbane Truck Show was back at full strength after a very constrained 2021 edition that went ahead in a tiny bubble of opportunity between lock downs and delta variants, albeit with a greatly reduced roster of manufacturer exhibitors. Local giant Volvo was missing, as was Isuzu and Hino as well as Scania.

However this year’s show was chocka-block with manufacturers and the Exhibition centre was heaving with more than 40,000 people across four days, in fact breaking attendance records for the show.

Like last year’s Hannover Truck expo, Brisbane was also a festival of zero emission options and although internal combustion engines had the lion’s share of the expo space, zero emission trucks were everywhere with a plethora of electrically driven trucks.

Paccar was at the ‘21 Brisbane show and again filled its usual prime spot at the top end of the exhibition hall and its stand was packed with the usual heavy metal Kenworths sitting alongside its sophisticated Euro cousins from DAF. For a company that has long hitched its trailer to big, diesel powered, chrome laden prime movers Kenworth notably did have a hydrogen fuel cell electric powered prime

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mover on the stand, albeit in the far corner, alongside a battery electric DAF rigid.

The hydrogen fuel cell electric Kenworth was a US import T680 which has been developed in cohorts with Toyota using a development of the Japanese auto giant’s Mirai fuel cell and which has been extensively trialled in the US, including at the Port of Long Beach in an ongoing project to lower emissions in California.

The display truck was apparently from this trial and is one of ten similar prototypes produced and running in the US. Kenworth claims enough hydrogen capacity to deliver a range of 480km with a refuel time claimed at just 15 minutes.

The battery-electric DAF LF rigid has a GVM of 19-tonnes and has a notional power of 348hp and a range of up to 280km from its battery bank.

While DAF has been the main centre of development for Paccar in its quest for its own proprietary engine line in the form of the DAF designed and developed MX ICE range, it was fascinating to see a Cummins powered DAF XG+ 660 headlining for the Dutch brand in Brisbane. The XG+ 660 is powered by a Cummins 15 litre and boasts 660 hp, as the nomenclature hints.

What that truck did re start was the gossip campaign around the future of

Kenworth’s K series, which of course was only updated last year with the arrival of the K220. While some may think this is an imminent possibility we think Paccar is smart enough to know that many of its customers are not interested in owning a truck with European heritage and that the K Series fits their needs perfectly. More appropriately we reckon the 660 DAF XG gives Paccar the weaponry to further take the fight up to its Swedish rivals at Volvo and Scania, not to mention Mercedes Benz.

Far from cannibalising the DAF market the ‘bigger bang’ DAF is keen to eat into the market shares of its Euro rivals. DAF has been performing well in recent times and potentially the only thing holding it back has been the lack of a bigger engine, now there is no excuse.

Kenworth’s presence was all about the big bonnets and the ‘real’ trucks that so many fans come to Brisbane to see. Alongside the ‘new’ K220 Kenworth, which the company described as the ‘Next Level’, and said built on “Kenworth’s rich heritage of cabovers that have been the staple of Australian transport since 1971”, the maker had a bundle of bonneted machines to satisfy.

Kenworth showed the legendary T909 with a 50-inch sleeper, a T610 with a 1,400mm sleeper, and T360A and

T410SARs, configured in a low-roof car carrier specifications The Daimler stand offered an impressively well rounded and huge array of both diesel and electric trucks, as one might expect from the World’s largest truck manufacturer.

Daimler has made no secret about its ambitions to switch its trucks to a zero emission foundation as soon as practical and from Europe we had the first local viewing of its eActros, along with the specialist waste industry focussed eEconic as well as its Japanese subsidiary Fuso’s next gen eCanter. All of these trucks are yet to hit the road in Australia, although the previous incarnation of the eCanter is already here and has reached fleets with limited take up so far. Having said that the new trucks are set for extensive trials here this year, and in fact we reckon these trials are probably starting to happen while you are reading this.

The eActros, which was released in Europe last year and which T&TA drove in Germany is built with either a threeor four-battery configuration, which is a modular setup that allows manufacturing efficiencies. Each of these special lithium-ion batteries has a capacity of approximately 112 kWh, resulting in

total battery capacity of around 336 and 448 kWh. All this power helps the eActros to travel distances of up to 330 km and 400 km, although the exact range will vary depending on the geography, driving style, ambient temperature, as well as load and body configurations.

The eEconic uses the same powertrain as the eActros, and is apparently getting plenty of attention from waste companies and councils keen to not only go zero emission but also lower noise levels, often the bane of city dwellers woken in the early hours by noisy garbo trucks.

The new eCanter configuration has switched to a more efficient e-axle, which integrates the electric motor into the rear axle, eliminating the driveshaft and reducing losses.

Apart from its electric array Daimler’s stand was rich with some spectacular headlining ICE models, most notably a 25th Anniversary Special Edition Mercedes-Benz Actros, as well as a new more economical 13 litre Actros variant that promises four per cent better fuel consumption. In the Freightliner sector there was a road train spec Cascadia adding to the attraction of this impressive model that is staring to gather momentum in the Australian truck market.

As well as the new eCanter, Fuso’s ICE line up included the impressive Shogun 510 flagship configured as a Tipper (which we here at T&TA have since tested).

Volvo was back at Brisbane 2023, after skipping the 2021 show due to covid threats, and the company made a big splash with an impressive display highlighted by the two medium duty electric trucks it is already selling in this country. Volvo boss Martin Merrick didn’t hold back in his criticism of the current truck width and weight rules that are impeding Volvo’s roll out of its heavy duty electric FM and FH models, which although some have been sold to customers, are being held back by the tardy lawmakers. Volvo however showed the full array of its electric line up including giving a preview of the heavy duty electric models.

Volvo did have some ICE trucks on the stand unlike its parent company in Hannover last year, when it only had EVs on display. Headlining the ICE line up was a rainbow coloured FH16 with a Double XL Cab, with the livery highlighting some environment saving features including being able to run on Hydrogenated vegetable oil ( HVO) as well as having a special aero treatment. Overall it was an impressive array on the Swedish makers stand.

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With Isuzu returning to the Brisbane Show came some valuable critical mass, because although the Australian market leading Japanese brand does not have as much street cred as the big bonneted US style bangers, it is the home of the biggest selling models in this country and is an important part of the show.

In fact Isuzu was a bit of a scene stealer with the first showing of its first electric truck, albeit a tiddler in the form of a small Japanese spec N Series or ELF ss its known in its home market. Isuzu like Hino has been slow to come to the electric market at one point it looked like it might hook up with SEA Electric, but that didn’t happen with Hino taking up that option.

The little electric Isuzu was shown in Brisbane less than two months after it was unveiled in Japan and was shown in Brisbane five months before Isuzu is due to show it at the Tokyo Motor Show, or Japan Mobility as it will now be known. The display of the truck was done imaginatively, bearing in mind it is difficult to make a cab chassis look interesting and compelling, but the Isuzu Aussie crew came up with a simple perspex flat tray back, which was lit really well with blue led lighting, highlighting its environmental credentials and making a very plain small truck look exciting.

The Isuzu EV has been developed in collaboration with ZF using the German

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transmission and component suppliers new battery electric driveline. It is claimed to have a 150km range depending on driving and application as well as the spec. It will be available with either three or five 20kWh batteries fitted in its modular driveline enabling the motor to produce between 110 and 150kW of power and 370Nm torque.

Although no definite launch date has been set Isuzu says it I will start local customer trials particularly with last-mile logistics and council fleets in the fourth quarter this year. It says it will start selling the first EV models here late next year or in early 2025.

Isuzu showed a full line up of its ICE models as clearly it is still a long way from having zero emission models locally, and the fact is that there are more ICE powered Isuzus sold in Australia than any other brand.

Hino is pursuing a re branding for its Hybrid line up, in the absence of it having any fully electric trucks in the pipeline.

They are now calling them Hybrid Electrics. Although it doesn’t have access to any electric trucks at the moment, since the Brisbane Show the merging of the Hino brand with Fuso in a new separate entity has been announced and that will most likely give Hino access to the tech used in the eCanter at some point in the future.

The Hino stand revolved around its Sports Deck with a number of 300, 500 and 700 Series cab chassis and prime

movers on the Hino stand.

Western Star had its new X-Series trucks on its stand as it celebrates 40 years on the Australian market at the Brisbane truck expo. Brisbane also market the official launch of the new X-Series with the Penske owned local distributorship for the Daimler brand opening its order books at the Show.

Of course the Western Star X-Series is the first totally new Western Star to be developed since the brand was purchased

by Daimler and in fact is the first all new Star to developed in the past two decades.

There was a full array of the new X-Series on the stand and Penske adopted a very industrial look to match the big chrome bonneted look of the new trucks.

Right alongside the ‘Stars, the other major brand Penske distributes locally, MAN had a full line up of its models headlining with its relatively new TGX flagship.

At the Iveco stand the star of the show was the new S-Way flagship model but on a near equal footing was the all-electric eDaily. Iveco chose to officially launch S-Way at the Brisbane expo while it was the electric Daily’s first appearance in Australia.

Iveco showcased two new models at the Brisbane Truck Show, with a cab-chassis example of its all-electric eDaily large van and S-Way heavy-duty truck touching down for the first time in Australia.

The S-Way is to some extent a make or

break truck for Iveco in this country and as we have said since driving it, the ball is now firmly in the court of local Iveco management. There is nothing wrong with the truck and it should sell, but Iveco dealers need to rediscover their mojo if it is to succeed.

The eDaily is an important new product for the company as well, given the onward rush toward zero emission. It is expected to be here for trials later this year and hopefully will go on sale some time in late 2024.

Speaking of electric, and that was the major topic of discussion in Brisbane, locally founded and now internationally based SEA Electric had a significant footprint at the Brisbane Show with founder Tony Fairweather jetting into Australia from his US base to present at the show, with the company supremo announcing that its next step will be to introduce a 45kW hydrogen fuel cell for its SEA-Drive 250 powertrain, saying it would extend range in heavier duty-cycle applications. He said that the Hydrogen fuel cell variant would be at the next Brisbane Show in 2025.

The company displayed an array of its current models on its stand all of them the Hino based SEA Electric badged light and medium duty models along with one of its latest models an electric-driveline conversion of the Toyota HiLux, which is

being hawked to mining operations through systems integrator Mevco.

A most significant newcomer at the show was Hyundai. Of course the Korean maker was at the 2021 Show, however that was with its local independent distributor of diesel trucks, Hyundai Commercial Vehicles Australia. This time around it was Hyundai Australia, the factory owned operation with the launch of its light duty electric trucks, which it will distribute, leaving the diesel range to HCVA. HCVA wasn’t present this year so the new electric Mighty was centre stage for the Korean brand. We have noted before that if any new entrant to the truck market in Australia is better set up in terms of brand recognition and the ability to cut through with truck buyers than Hyundai , then we can’t think of them. It will be interesting what sort of cut through Hyundai will have and if the factory operation can make a go of the electric truck range.

Along with the known brands this year’s Brisbane Show the focus on the march to zero emission also meant a lot of new and little known brands saw the chance to challenge the establishment with a gaggle of makers offering various zero emission or low emission options from hybrid to battery electric and even hydrogen fuel cells. The constant across most of them was the fact that they are largely Chinese sourced products, the rise of this sleeping

bear that many have been predicting for the past two decades.

The zero emission options were there in record numbers with Chinese makers including; Foton Mobility, JAC, Sinotruck, EV Automotive and HDrive as well as the Australian operation of the drama ridden US based hydrogen truck manufacturer Hyzon, along with Janus, the Australian battery swap electric truck driveline maker all had exhibits at the Brisbane Truck Show this year.

It was interesting to note that all of the ‘established’ players including Fuso, Iveco, Mercedes and so on, were noticeably reticent when it came to revealing the retail prices of its electric machines. That was generally not the case with most of the upstart newcomers, who all seem very keen to leverage the price advantage, particularly given they are largely unknown brands in this market.

For a company that leveraged its cut through moment in Australia via a then revolutionary ‘$12,990 drive away no more to pay’ car offer in the early 1990s, it is not surprising that Hyundai revealed a price of around $150,000 for its cab-chassis price electric Mighty, that by various estimates means it is anything up to $30,000 less than the equivalent SEA Electric truck, and if word is to believed considerably less than the Fuso eCanter, which is only offered on a lease basis by Daimler, but which

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A SMALL STEP ON OUR PATH TO CHANGE FROM 2021, ALL CASTROL PRODUCTS WE SELL IN AUSTRALIA ARE

COMMITTED TO CARBON NEUTRALITY IN ACCORDANCE WITH PAS 2060** A SMALL STEP TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

some say the payments equate to a truck that would cost well north of $200,000.

However you are buying the assurance of the biggest truck maker in the World.

Foton Mobility another newcomer from China was even less than Hyundai with an up front approach that puts its 4.5 tonne GVM electric T5 model at $135,000.

Former local boss of SEA Electric, and before that Hino, Bill Gillespie is now in charge of Foton Mobiity’s light duty vehicles and was on hand to explain that the company is serious about Australia and that it is planning to significantly expand its dealer network over the next 18 months with its targets including, Canberra, the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong and other regional centres in Victoria and NSW. Gillespie revealed that 80-85 per cent of new energy trucks sold across the world are now produced in China, and that Foton held 52 per cent of its domestic NEV market in China last year with a sales projection of around 150,000 trucks a year by 2025.

JAC is another brand returning to the Australian truck market with a presence at Brisbane ushering in a new era with its electric light duty truck range, again undercutting the other players with a price starting in the mid $120,000 realm.

The brand currently only has four dealers

but they are quality operators with CMV handling Adelaide and Melbourne, the Westend Group in Sydney and Westport in Brisbane.

On the same stand as JAC was the Australian-designed, Chinese-built hydrogen fuel cell-powered H Drive HD49T prime mover that the company says is about to go into service with Pepsi Australia delivering drinks from bottling plant to distribution centres.

HDrive has collaborated with Wisdom Fujian Motor in China to produce the HD49T while hydrogen production and infrastructure company, Pure Hydrogen was also involved. It will be interesting to monitor the long term viability of HDrive as well as JAC and if they can achieve a critical mass before the established brands step up their zero emission models and volumes.

Similarly Hyzon displayed its first complete Australian-built and engineered hydrogen fuel cell truck, in the form of a refuse truck using a Superior Pak sideloading garbage truck body. The company has a link up with the RACV in Victoria and has an assembly operation adjacent to the RACV campus in the Melbourne suburb of Noble Park, where this truck was bolted together and which is about to go into service for Remondis in the

Wollongong area of NSW. Its local partnership with the RACV is rolled in with its towing subsidiary Nationwide Group at the shared Noble Park operation and the deal will see it supplying hydrogen-powered tilt tray trucks.

Janus Electric has been around for a couple of Brisbane shows and again was there this year with another Kenworth T610, which it had converted to electric, with its swappable battery concept. Janus says it has battery swap stations in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Mount Gambier, Port Augusta and Sydney, and added that it has plans to open solar-powered swap ocations on the Pacific Highway to enable converted trucks to cover the Brisbane to Sydney route as part of the company’s ‘Solar Highways’ project.

It will be interesting to see if this Australian minnow will be able to get enough cut through to score some critical mass in such a capital intensive industry.

A telling sign was a small placard spied on the Janus stand calling for interested investors in the start up. We wish them well.

It was a massive show with record crowds, significant statements about the electric future and some impressive new trucks. It will be fascinating to see how much further it will advance when the show rolls around again in May 2025. ** ** **

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in accordance with PAS 2060, see www.castrol.com/cneutral for more information.

The C02e emissions are calculated in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Product Life Cycle Standard and includes life cycle emissions. The demonstration of carbon neutrality will be assured by an Independent Third-Party and certified to BSI’s PAS 2060 carbon neutral specification. See www.castrol.com/cneutral for more information.

Road Test

SCANIA’S SALES VOLUMES HAVE BEEN RISING STEADILY IN RECENT TIMES AND MORE AND MORE FLEETS HAVE EMBRACED THE BRAND AS A SAFE, FUEL EFFICIENT AND HIGH PERFORMING OPTION. THE LATEST 660HP V8 VERSION OF SCANIA’S R SERIES IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THIS AS WE LEARNT FIRST HAND ON A RECENT ROAD TEST.

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“ WE NEVER GET TIRED OF STEERING A BIG RIG WITH A SCANIA V8 DIESEL POWERING IT. THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THIS SWEDISH BENT IRON THAT IS SO REWARDING FOR TRUCK DRIVERS”

T

he big blue Scania sat on the tarmac at the side of the Scania dealership in Western Melbourne, displaying the sort of presence and gravitas that other brands would kill for.

The Scania with its rumbling V8 diesel, the only major global truck brand currently marketing a V8 diesel, is an impressive truck and with the B-double set sitting behind it, the prospect of taking this Swedish hot rod up the Pentland Hills to Ballarat and back for a test, was something we were looking forward to.

We never get tired of steering a big rig with a Scania V8 diesel powering it. There is something about this Swedish bent eight that is so rewarding for truck drivers. It hums along, in a relaxed and easy gait, never fussed or bothered by the steepest of grades or the heaviest of loads. It is a great engine to drive in a great truck.

Wearing a special ‘660HP’ number plate just to emphasise its credentials and the chance to give the truck a run out to Ballarat and back was one we jumped at.

With the B-double grossing around

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61.5 tonnes we pulled out of the Scania dealership and wended our way through the busy ‘warehouse’ district of the sprawling Western Suburbs and tacked our way to the Western Freeway setting sail for Ballarat.

The climb up the Pentland Hills is never an easy task for a truck, don’t get me wrong the Scania has to work at the task, but it always gives me the impression it seems to take things in its stride , digging deep into its torque well when needed, getting the job done.

The interior of the Scania is top shelf, with leather seats and steering wheel and the great Scania layout that has everything in the right place, and that all important V8 badge prominently placed around the cabin.

The Scania cab layout is just so comfortable, well thought out and designed, so much so that other makers would do a lot worse to pull one apart and use it as a template for a long distance truck cab.

The other stand out quality the big Scania always delivers on is its steering and ride quality. The steering in particular is precise and beautifully weighted, delivering

tremendous feed back to the driver, as well as ensuring it tracks well on nasty, bumpy roads, like the Western Freeway is in places.

Precise, comfortable steering is so vital in a modern day B-double because it means a driver can keep his charge in its lane and not thrown all over the road. Difficult steering is one of the prime contributors to driver fatigue in long distance driving, a factor that is often overlooked by operators.

All of this is also aided and helped by the front suspension, which really smooths out a lot of the problems with our degraded road network. Combined with the rear air bag suspension you get a superlative ride and better control overall and that was evident throughout our drive.

Getting back to the driveline, the 660 hp V8 is mated as usual to the always excellent 14-speed Scania Opticruise AMT, which now has a a wider spread between the ratios to maximise the ability for the engine to stay in the prime torque band. The transmission spans from the deep crawler gear with a 20.8:1 ratio through to the 14th

gear which is a 0.777:1 overdrive ratio.

The wider spread gives Scania more flexibility particularly with higher loads , enabling the truck to run bigger loads while also delivering the flexibility of taller final drive ratios, with the deep crawler enabling smooth acceleration from a standing start when highly loaded, and the taller ratios delivering better efficiency at cruise.

Scania has specced this particular truck with a 3.07:1 final drive , which in the past some may have considered to be a little too tall for a heavy 60 tonne line haul truck, but the flexibility of the engine, combined with the availability of the Crawler gear and the spread of ratios means that the truck is not troubled by the impost of a tall diff. It does benefit in terms of fuel efficiency and that is pretty vital in the face of rising fuel prices.

The torque from the throbbing V8 is the main reason Scania can use a tall final drive. The flexibility of the 660hp is such that with peak horsepower delivered at 1900 rpm and its peak torque of 3300Nm from 950rpm to 1400rpm, there is an overlap of the power and torque curves

at around 1350rpm where the V8 is giving peak torque while it is also delivering around 640hp. That is in essence the reason the engine works so well, while still delivering very strong fuel economy.

The Scania Opticruise also has just about the best retarder or intarder around and the latest incarnation now delivers about 800 Nm more braking force, compared with the previous evolution. Certainly on some of the descents on our return journey the seamless and efficient retardation can be used to effectively slow the big rig without bothering the service brakes.

There are three modes available while using the Scania AMT, with Eco, Standard and Power selectable via a button on the end of the right hand transmission stalk on the steering column.

We started off in Standard mode and that was more than adequate to handle the rigours of negotiating the traffic around the Laverton Scania dealership and through the various roads to The Western Freeway. It was also the right mode for powering along the motorway and even on some of the

climbs. When you do need an extra ‘kick’ it is easy to punch the button on the stalk to grab Power mode and it digs deeper and gets the job done.

Tackling the climb up the Pentland Hills and the 660 V8 starts working, but its torque enables it to hang in there, the revs dropping slightly and at around 1000rpm the new faster Opticruise slots down a gear, quickly and easily, without losing any engine speed, as the truck continued to climb strongly up the hills.

With the adaptive cruise set on 100km/h and the overrun set for 5km/h, the runs off the hills were just as easy and comfortable to tackle. The Opticruise retarder we mentioned before works seamlessly as well, coming on and holding the speed to the set level without any dramas or over speeds. It is a very intelligent operation that is holistically applied to the drive train, applying the retarder, braking and downshifting if necessary and even bringing the engine fan on to aid the retardation.

There is also eco roll that is integrated into the system, putting the gearbox into neutral

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No how hard hardthe the No matter matter how job, is paving pavingthe the job, UD UD is way in reliability. reliability.

“ THE LAYOUT OF THE DASH AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL IS SUPERBLY DESIGNED AS IS THE EXTRA-WIDE SLEEPER CAB, THE SEATING AND THE FINISH OVERALL”

on more gentle descents to reduce engine revs and to save fuel.

However, even though all of the components in this R660 Scania are really great and are individually excellent, this truck is actually a case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts . It is the way all of the qualities have been woven together, from the hum of the delightful V8 engine to the integration with the transmission, the accuracy and feel of the steering, to the retardation and braking package and the ride. All of those aspects are superlative but put together it makes a truck that we could drive for days on end with wonderment and pleasure.

Back inside the cabin the layout of the dash and the instrument panel is superbly designed as is the extra-wide sleeper cab, the seating and the finish overall. It all just makes a driver’s job a helluva lot easier.

When you consider a truck like the R660 Scania it is little wonder why the ‘other’ Swedish brand’s sales have been rising steadily in recent times. Pure and simple , it is just a ‘bloody’ good truck and given all of its qualities, we reckon Scania will sell a whole lot more of them.

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SPECIFICATIONS: Model: Engine: Power: Torque: Transmission: Transmission shift: Retarder: Alternator: Propeller shaft: Steering box: Front axle: Front suspension: Rear axles: Rear axle ratio: Rear suspension: Brakes: Tyres: Safety: Wheelbase: Cab tilt: Interior: Seats: Battery box: Fuel tank: AdBlue:

Scania R 660 6x4 Scania DC16 660 16-litre V8 E6 660hp (485kW) at 1900rpm 12434lb-ft (3300Nm) at 950 to 1400rpm Scania G33-CM1 14-speed overdrive Opticruise Scania R4700D Scania 24V 100A P604 Bosch 8298 Scania AM64S Scania Air Scania AD200SA axle housings 3.07:1 with diff locks to both axles Scania Air Scania electronically controlled disc brakes Bridgestone 295/80R22.5R EBS with integrated ABS and traction control 3150mm Electronic Black leatherette with V8 styling V8 leather back with red stitch 2 x 12V, 180A, left-hand-side chassis mount 1 x 320L R/H side and 1 x 710L L/H side 1 x 73L R/H side

As a full service civil construction company, our fleet of ten AsUD a full service company, our applications, fleet of ten Trucks workcivil in aconstruction wide range of challenging UD Trucks a wide challenging applications, and they work alwaysinstand uprange to theof test.

What matters to us and they always stand upsafety, to theversatility, test. Whatdriver matters to us most is reliability, driver comfort, most reliability, driver safety, driver comfort, and is good fuel consumption.

Weversatility, trust UD to deliver and good fuel consumption.

We trust UD to deliver maximum uptime and they never let us down. maximum uptime and they never let us down.

Patrick O’Sullivan Patrick O’Sullivan Managing Director, Prestige Civil Group, Victoria Managing Director, Prestige Civil Group, Victoria

Going the Extra Mile Going the To find outExtra more,Mile contact your UD Trucks dealer

onfind 1300out BUYmore, A UD orcontact visit udtrucks.com/australia To your UD Trucks dealer on 1300 BUY A UD or visit udtrucks.com/australia

Road Test

IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT WESTERN STAR AS A TRUCK BRAND IN THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN LANGUISHING SOMEWHAT IN RECENT YEARS, THE VICTIM OF DATED DESIGN AND THE MARKET MOVING ON TO MORE MODERN CONVENTIONAL DESIGNS LIKE KENWORTH’S T610S AND EVEN ITS DAIMLER SIBLING, FREIGHTLINER’S CASCADIA. BUT AS WE PREVIEWED LATE LAST YEAR WESTERN STAR NOW HAS ITS FIRST ALL NEW TRUCK RANGE IN DECADES, AND CERTAINLY THE FIRST DESIGNED UNDER THE DAIMLER REGIME THAT TOOK OVER THE BRAND MID-WAY THROUGH THE EARLY 2000S. WE TOOK ONE FOR A DAY LONG TEST RUN COVERING AROUND 300KM RECENTLY, AND CAME AWAY IMPRESSED.

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“ THE 48X IS THE TRUCK THAT WE RECKON WILL MAKE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN SPECIFICALLY DEVELOPED FOR AUSTRALIAN OPERATIONS”

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ocal distributor for Western Star, Penske Australia, has been looking forward to the arrival of. This new range of X-Series ‘Stars, with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning, because apart from anything else this new truck puts the brand on an equal playing field with its main opponents like Kenworth.

Western Star never really challenged Kenworth back in the day but they were certainly much closer in the sales race back then. The new X-Series has the potential to at least take the brand back into much more respectable territory and our drive certainly underlined that this is a real possibility.

Like its counterpart, the Freightliner Cascadia, which comes out of the same Daimler Trucks North America stable, the local Western Star distributor has seen its supplies of trucks from the US restricted for various reasons, including component shortages, shipping issues and even strong

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demand in its home markets. This has certainly held up sales of the Cascadia and we believe things may have improved enough to help Penske get more of the new trucks to our shores.

A few months after first sampling various models in the new X-Series range at the launch at Mt Cotton near Brisbane, we found ourselves back in the Queensland capital to have a longer drive in what we reckon is the headline act in the X-Series range, the 48X. The 48X stood out because, despite the Western Star architecture being based on a vocational platform, that is different to its Freightliner cousins, it was very obvious that the Star looked a better spec and formula for our Australian linehaul B-double needs than the Freightliner.

The reality is that while the Daimler Truck Australia people are at pains to point out that the Western Star is based on a very different chassis to the Cascadia, there is a

lot of family DNA obvious in the new Stars This is a significant truck given it is the first new Western Star entirely developed

by Daimler, and arguably it is the first new Star introduced here since Penske took control of the brand when it bought the operation from Terry Peabody’s Transpacific Industries back in the early part of the 20 teens.

In fact the Penske bosses at the launch made it clear that no other Western Star has endured as much local testing and adaptation as the new X-series has, and never has Western Star been able to meet as many application challenges and fill as many niches.

The 48X is the truck that we reckon will make the biggest impact on the Australian market because it has been specifically developed for Australian operations and in fact is not actually available in the US Western Star model line up. In particular it suits the Aussie B-double market, and

Penske is hoping that this truck will win it back a bigger share of this particular sector, a sector it has not been able to play in competitively in recent years The secret of course, is this truck’s set forward front axle, along with its attractive bumper to back of cab dimensions, which at 2883 mm or 113.5 inches ( if you have a US accent) puts it right in a sweet spot for B-double operation. Couple that with the choice of either the 13 litre Detroit DD13 with up to 525hp or the DD16 16 litre Detroit with up to 600hp, with both mated to a choice of the DT12 speed automated manual with overdrive, the DT 12 OVX heavy duty trans or, in what is an increasing rarity, the choice of a RoadRanger 18-speed manual as well as the fully automatic Allison transmisison, and you have a very strong package.

Clearly the DD13 means that the GCM is limited a little by its lower horsepower rating, but still it is rated at up to 72.5

tonnes, while the more muscular DD16 can handle up to 106 tonnes putting it in road train territory.

The other factor that makes the 48X so attractive in the B-double and beyond arena is its choice of cabs, ranging from a standard variant with low roof to a 36inch sleeper with low roof or a stand-up mid-roof option. The 36 inch sleeper keeps the 48X in B-double contention, but if you want a bigger sleeper it can be optioned with either a 48 inch or a massive 60 inch sleeper with a high roof, presenting a huge amount of comfort and space.

One of the things that really stands out with the 48X is its on road presence. It has a much more ‘American’ look and feel than its Freightliner Cascadia cousin, with a lot more chrome and bling and that set jaw, characteristic of a big US designed bonneted truck, that will mean it has more appeal to Kenworth buyers and even traditional Western Star buyers.

Inside the Western Star is far more modern and civilised than older Stars.

Clearly there is a family resemblance that gives away its Daimler Trucks North America heritage. That means that the instrument panel and dash is the latest tech and there has been a lot of work on streamlining and making a more efficient truck.

In particular the X-series has benefitted from better routing of wiring looms and the way they are attached to the truck and along with airlines are all designed to be more hardy and able to stand up to the rough stuff, given they have been routed away from the truck’s frame.

Another significant move has been to mount the radiator to the engine and not to the chassis which the Western Star people say is to ensure better torsional strength. By the way both the 13 litre and 16 litre are fitted with big cooling systems, with the smaller power plant

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THE TRUCK WAS EQUIPPED WITH THE 36 INCH MID-ROOF SLEEPER ALONG WITH AERO KIT THE 48X CERTAINLY LOOKED THE PART AND HAD A TOUGH LOOK

getting a 1400 sq. inch rad, while the 16litre gets a 1600 sq. inch version.

Sit behind the wheel and if you blink you might be mistaken in thinking you’re in a Benz, a Freightliner or a Fuso, given the strong family influence on cockpit.

One thing that the 48X doesn’t get is a driver’s airbag in the wheel and there is no word on whether it will get one any time soon.

We met up with our partner for the day, Penske product specialist Steve Gibbins, at the operation’s headquarters at Wacol in Brisbane’s west, with the intention of heading out to tackle Cunningham’s Gap and the climb up to the Darling Downs town of Warwick.

Climbing up into the 48X cab is easy work, given the positioning of the steps and rails that ensure you always have three points of contact. One thing you notice however, is the gap on the last step.

Because the 48 sits 100mm higher than both the 47 and 49X and other trucks like the Freightliner Cascadia, the final step up is noticeably higher and a bigger gap than the steps below.

Inside the 48X cockpit and cabin the driver can position on the ISRI air

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suspension high back seat and in front of you is a very Daimler oriented dash layout.

It is easy to settle on a comfortable driving posi’ and all the information needed is clearly laid out in front, with a digital dashboard that is direct from that family parts bin, and would be familiar to anyone who has driven a recent Freightliner or Mercedes. Once comfortable and familiar with the controls we were underway.

There aren’t too many sterner tests for a truck than the ‘Gap. It is a tough climb and on the day we piloted the 48X, road works at the bottom, near the edge of Aratula, made it even tougher, with a near standing start and little chance of much of a run up.

The test 48X was mated to a B-double set and was grossing around 60 tonnes and despite the fact that the new Star had less than 2000km on the clock, its performance would surprise and delight, even this gnarly old truck scribbler.

The truck was equipped with the 36 inch mid-roof sleeper along with aero kit, and certainly looked the part, thanks to its tough look, even sitting in the car park.

The muscular DD16 with its 600 horses also delivers some substance to the swagger its looks convey. The 12 speed AMT was

mated to tandem drive Meritor RT-46s and it was specced with 3.73:1 diff ratio.

On the run out of Wacol along the freeway to Ipswich the 48X soon got into an easy canter , loping along at 100km/h while the engine ticked over at 1400rpm.

One other thing that the Daimler family lineage has given the new Star is a really quiet ambience and it was quickly realised that this is a truck that could easily gallop across hundreds of kilometres in a very relaxed and easy manner.

The noise levels are distinctly lower and more comfortable than previous Western Stars and on a similar level to its sibling from Freightliner, which makes the task of piloting this truck so much easier and nicer, particularly over long distances.

The 48X tackled Cunninghams with a strong, tenacious attitude, aided by the excellent Daimler Detroit driveline, with the 16 litre grunting away and the DT12 AMT shifting smoothly and easily.

The engine and trans manage the torque band perfectly and in the earlier stages of the run the gearbox changes down without loss of too many revs, and in auto, for the most part, stayed in eighth with the occasional shift down to seventh for the

steeper pinches.

It stayed in seventh on the last run to the summit and only a hundred metres or so short of the peak it slotted back to sixth for a moment or two ‘till it crested the top.

The whole time we left it in auto without bothering to believe that our tiny brain could outthink the ‘mini super computer’ in the engine management computer. The engine grunted away at around 1450 rpm the entire way up the hill and only in that last gasp at the top did it drop to around 1400, bringing on the late shift. It was a seriously impressive effort for a truck with so few kilometres on the clock.

The driving experience overall is also a good one. The steering is direct and well assisted with good feel for the driver, again displaying that lineage from the Daimler family. It certainly steered and rode a 100 times better than ‘Stars we had driven in the past.

By the time we hit Warwick the fuel gauge and trip computer were reflecting the hard work on scaling Cunninghams with an average consumption a shade over 1.7km/litre.

Speaking of fuel , the 48X featured a total of 1520 lites in fuel capacity, with

two big square shouldered rectangular tanks on either side of the cab, 745 on one side and 775 on the other, along with a 200 litre AdBlue tank below the left hand door, ensuring a solid range of between 2500 and 3000kms, depending on the circumstances.

By the time we had a bite to eat at the road house on the outskirts of Warwick and turned the 48X for home we were feeling reasonably confident about the trip back to Wacol, given the performance so far.

If the climb up the Gap was impressive, then so to was the descent. Cresting the top on the way back we slotted the Star back to sixth in manual mode, and had the Jake brake all the way on in stage three. From here it we easy to control by using the Jake control on the steering column to ease or add retardation and as the descent flattened out we slotted it up to seventh before heading back into full Auto on the lower slopes. All in all, very controlled, simple and above all safe.

By the time we arrived back at Wacol the overall fuel consumption for the 285 km round trip was sitting on 1.82 km/ litre, which is a damn fine result for a truck that was thousands of kilometres away

from being fully run in and loosened up. It underlines what a terrifically economical engine Daimler produces.

We came away from a relatively short drive in the Western Star’s 48X with a strongly favourable impression, and would love to do a longer run in the truck at some stage. However it was enough to tell us that if operators give this truck a chance and the word of mouth gets around, Penske will move a lot more of them in the future and perhaps recapture the brand’s glory days.

This is a truck that is going to be well suited to rugged Australian conditions and will cope with some serious workloads, not only in B-double configuration but in road train operations up to 106 tonnes.

These are areas where the brand has really dropped share in the last few years.

Whether the long, and recently slow supply chain for Daimler trucks out of North America, will provide enough product to satisfy any increased demand is another matter all together. But given the chance this is a truck that has the cred, capability and charisma to take a fight up to Kenworth when it comes to big conventionals in this country. Bring it on we say?

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Road Test

IN JAPANESE LEGEND A SHOGUN IS THE MOST POWERFUL LEADER, THE STRONGEST MILITARY HARD MAN, RULING WITH AN IRON FIST. WHEN FUSO NAMED ITS FLAGSHIP MODEL SHOGUN THERE WAS APPARENTLY NO INTENTION

BY THE COMPANY’S BOSSES IN JAPAN TO OFFER IT WITH THE 510 HP 13 LITRE DAIMLER ENGINE. MAKING THAT ENGINE AVAILABLE WAS AN IDEA BORN HERE IN AUSTRALIA BY LOCAL DAIMLER MANAGEMENT, AND CONVINCING THE JAPANESE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN HAS BEEN AN INSPIRED INITIATIVE. WHAT IT HAS DONE, IRONICALLY, IS MAKE SHOGUN THE UNCHALLENGED, STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL JAPANESE HEAVY DUTY IN THE MARKET, IN OTHER WORDS THE SHOGUN OF THAT PARTICULAR MARKET SECTOR. WE WENT TO QUEENSLAND’S GOLD COAST RECENTLY TO TRY ONE IN TIPPER CONFIGURATION.

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SPECIFICATIONS: Engine: Fuso OM471-T9 Diesel Configuration: DOHC, four-valve, asymmetric turbocharger, air to air intercooler in-line six-cylinder turbo-diesel Displacement: 12.8-litre, 12,809cc Bore: 132mm Stroke: 156mm Power: 510hp (375kW) at 1600rpm Torque: 2500Nm at 1100rpm Max engine speed: 2100rpm Compression ratio: 18.3:1 Emission Control: Diesel particulate filter (DPF) plus SCR after-treatment system Emission Level: ADR 80/03 Euro VI Injection System: common rail direct injection with pressure booster Fuel capacity: 400L Tank type: Rectangular alloy tank with locking cap AdBlue: 60 litres, Tank fitted with locking AdBlue cap Speed Limiter: Speed limited 100km/h Front suspension: Taper leaf with double acting shock absorbers Rear Axle: Full floating hypoid type tandem drive with inter-axle diff lock. Optional limited slip differential to both axles Axle type: Fuso R12TT/R12T. Capacity 21600kg Ratio: Standard 4.222:1 (Optional 4.625:1) Rear suspension: Four-bag air suspension. Trailing arm with double-acting dampers and ECAS with two memory positions Brakes: Full air, dual circuit with Fuso taper rollers Engine brake: Jacobs brake with three levels of retardation

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ith so many major infrastructure projects happening around the country the demand for tippers has been immense and trucks like Fuso’s Shogun 510 have been target of that demand. When Fuso introduced the Shogun with the 510 hp version of the Daimler family 13 litre six cylinder back in 2021, it really ratcheted up the stakes amongst the Japanese heavy duty offerings, significantly outpowering its opponents from Hino (480hp) and isuzu (344hp).

What the 510 hp Shogun has done is to give buyers a Japanese spec, priced and quality truck with the sort of horsepower only Euro and American trucks could offer until now.

Primarily the push to get the 13 litre Daimler engine into the Shogun came from Australia and it has significantly lifted Fuso’s heavy duty sales volume and market share. Compared with 2020 for the last full year before the 510 was launched here, Fuso sold 433 heavy duty trucks and took 4.1 per cent share of the HD market.

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By the end of 2022, the first full year that the bigger engine was in the Shogun it had almost doubled the volume to 802 heavy duty sales taking 5.4 per cent of the HD market. That represents an 85 per cent increase in Fuso HD volume, in a total heavy duty market that rose 40.9 per cent.

That is an impressive lift and one that has certainly paid off for Fuso in pushing for the bigger engine.

The only strange thing is the reticence of Fuso’s Japanese opponents to lift the horsepower of their heavy models. Fuso at least has the benefit of the well of Daimler power trains. Short of installing Cummins power plants, as DAF is about to do, neither Isuzu or Hino currently have a bigger engine to fit. That may change with the latest rounds of alliances and mergers that may come to fruition in the next little while.

What the 13 litre Daimler has also given Fuso is a seamless bridge from its 8-litre to the 11 litre and on to the 13litre with horsepower ratings at 360, 400, 460 and now 510.

While the truck we are testing here is a

tipper the 13 litre has also made the Fuso more attractive in the prime mover market, particularly in the regional intrastate logistics operations that the bottom end of the Euro market is currently dominating.

The Tipper model we drove for a day on the Queensland Gold Coast had also been featured on the Daimler stand at BTS and a couple of weeks later we were behind the wheel of the truck for a run up over the Dividing Range behind the Gold Coast, on a variety of roads, that are the domain of trucks such as this.

They work day in day out being filled by excavators, moving earth, picking up gravel and other landscape supplies and servicing developing subdivisions, road projects, major corporate and residential developments and so on.

The test truck was built up by the local Fuso dealer, Daimler Truck Centre Gold Coast in the industrial areas behind Burleigh. The truck was fitted with a beautifully engineered Hardox steel tipper manufactured by AA Diesel Truck Bodies in Melbourne. A Shogun Tipper like this

could easily handle a three or four axle tipper dog trailer, but in this instance that wasn’t available for our test so we just had the truck with its 11.5 cubic metre capacity and it was loaded with about 11 tonnes of sand in the tipper. That gave us a GVM of 23,300kg or thereabouts.

We set off on our drive from Burleigh negotiating the busy suburban roads and onto the M1 Motorway. At every point the Shogun 510 handled everything we through it without fuss or protest.

Admittedly we were well within the truck’s weight capabilities but the combination of the OM47113 litre engine ( another nomenclature for what is the DD13 in a Freightliner) obviously producing 510hp as well as 2500Nm of torque. It is also mated to the G330/ DT12 AMT which meant the Shogun was always in the correct gear and was a joy to drive.

At Nerang we peeled off the motorway and headed inland over the mountains and on some narrow regional roads where the manoeuvrability of the Shogun was really tested and proved to be very pleasing.

Certainly for any driver a day at the wheel of the Shogun would be a quite pleasurable experience.

The climb up and down the Range is twisty and challenging drive, with lots of traffic and opportunities for baulking and loss of momentum, for all of that, the cab of the Shogun was a quiet and relaxed workspace that made the task a simple thing.

The tipper market is clearly one that Daimler is targeting with the 510. It means that buyers who would probably not consider a Mercedes or a FreightIiner on their tipper shopping list can consider the Fuso brand. It is a little bit more utilitarian and industrial but with clear signs of its Daimler lineage and DNA starting to appear in the Shogun.

The test truck had plenty of shiny bits with an impressive polished alloy bulbar along with auxiliary lights and an impressive colour decals underlining the truck’s horsepower ratings. The Hardox tipper body is also impressive looking with some beautiful welds and finished in shiny black.

The big and comfortable Shogun cab is

full-size and puts you under no illusion, this is an impressive cab. To climb up there are three large non-slip steps, handles and grips to ensure three points of contact.

Settling into the suspension seat and behind the comfortable steering wheel is when it becomes more obvious that this truck has lost nothing of its Japanese durability and build quality but is starting to benefit from that Daimler influence we mentioned earlier.

Behind the wheel, the big windscreen allows the driver a great view of the road ahead and through the side windows to the mirrors and the periphery.

That Daimler DNA is making its presence felt via the dash in particular which is laid out ahead of the steering wheel. The small LED screen in the middle of the instrument panel sits between the large speedo and tacho, delivering important information and this can be selected and scrolled through using buttons on the left spoke of the wheel.

Cruise, the speed limiter and phone controls are managed via the buttons on the right spoke of the wheel.

Like other Daimler products the

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“OVERALL THE SHOGUN IS AN IMPRESSIVE TRUCK THAT IS CLEARLY FINDING FAVOUR WITH BUYERS”

Isuzu Service Agreements really help take a load off.

The last thing anyone needs is an unexpected bill landing on their desk. But with an Isuzu Service Agreement, you can choose from three packages to fit your needs and flatten your servicing costs into a single, predictable, monthly payment.

Plus, you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that you’re helping to meet your chain of responsibility requirements. And that all means a big load off your mind. transmission is managed by a stalk on the steering column, in this instance on the left, not the right as per its German and US siblings. But the gear selection is easy to use and similar to the other Daimler products.

It also gives the option of selecting manual or auto modes and is also the way to activate the three-stage engine brake.

There is a small seven inch touchscreen infotainment module in the centre of the dash to the left of the main dash, which enables the driver to control audio which includes AM/FM/DAB radio, as well as Bluetooth, phone connectivity, navigation and the rearview camera. This can also include up to five cameras. The unit also has a USB port but it doesn’t support Apple Car Play or Android Auto, which is makes it just a bit antiquated in our view.

Safety is a clear priority for Daimler and that is certainly the case with. The Shogun which features Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS). This uses radar and camera technology to deliver pedestrian proximity warning, powering the truck to a complete stop if it senses a pedestrian if the driver doesn’t brake after the audible warning goes off.

There is also ESP Electronic Stability Control, along with Hill Start (HSS), lane departure warning and Active Attention Assist (ASS). Shoguns also come standard with Active Attention Assist (AAA), in terms of electronic safety systems, while the driver gets a single air bag for added

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safety if a crash is unavoidable.

On top of the that there is Intelligent Headlight Control, which is really a automated self-dipping system which automatically dips high beam for oncoming traffic, while there are LED daytime running lights for added visibility on the road.

Our test drive continued up and over the range, mixing it with the increasingly dense traffic of the Gold Coast Hinterland.

Our destination was Canungra, the home to the Australian Army’s Jungle Warfare Training Centre, and by the time we arrived at the bakery for a bit of lunch we felt as though we had been doing battle with some of the mad kamakazi motorcycle riders and car drivers who displayed some truly awful road safety habits. Thank heavens for the Shogun’s safety systems.

Carting our load of sand and 22 tonne GVM up and over the mountain was a good test for the Shogun and the shifts of the 12 speed AMT were well timed, smooth and quick, enabling the truck to stay in the torque band and continue powering up the hills, while the three level Jake brake retarded the Tipper’s progress down the stern hills, effectively and efficiently.

Heading up the hills, even when we had been baulked, the 13 litre. Would dig deep into the vein of torque, dropping down two or three and then hanging on in the prime torque band.

There was one instance when we sightly

misjudged a corner on the return leg and arrived a little too fast only to have the ESP and the Shogun’s electronics kicked in and enabled us to negotiate the bend without a scare.

Using the adaptive cruise control the Fuso will seamlessly go into Eco-Roll on slight descents particularly on the motorway and that reflects in the fuel economy figures which are pretty impressive. Across the day long drive the truck returned an average of a little under 3 km/litre which was very good considering the hills and the load we had on board.

Overall the Shogun is an impressive truck that is clearly finding favour with buyers as witnessed by the sharp uptick In Fuso’s share of the HD market.

What the 510 13-litre and the 12 speed AMT have done for the Shogun is give it some European armoury and enabled it to go into the sword fight with its Japanese rivals with what equates to a pretty impressive gun. What was it that Sean Connery said in The Untouchables? Oh yeah, why bring a knife to a gun fight? Well exactly, the ‘gun’ Daimler powertrain in this truck takes it to another level entirely, and puts it on a par with European trucks but at a Japanese price, while its rivals from Hino and Isuzu are left to try and sharpen their swords.

It’s been a clever move by Daimler Trucks Australia to transplant the 13-litre into this truck and it’s paying off in spades.

To find out more, visit isuzu.com.au or see your nearest Isuzu Truck Dealer.

Care. It’s what we do.

FSA/ISZS1823 FSA/ISZS1823

Road Test

IF THERE IS AN ESTABLISHED TRUCK BRAND IN THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET THAT HAS SEEN MORE FALSE STARTS, OVER PROMISES, EXECUTIVE CHANGES OR LOSS OF MARKET SHARE IN THE PAST 10 YEARS THAN IVECO, THEN WE COULD NOT NAME THEM. THE BRAND RECENTLY LAUNCHED ITS NEW FLAGSHIP S-WAY MODELS AND AFTER AN EXTENDED DRIVE UP THE PACIFIC HIGHWAY ON AN OVERNIGHT TRIP WE WERE IMPRESSED AND SURPRISED BY THIS NEW TRUCK. NOW LET’S SEE IF THEY CAN SELL IT. 038 www.truckandbus.net.au

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I

veco Australia’s bumpy path has been a difficult one for many reasons.

Once a market leader under its previous incarnation of International, the Italian owned brand has seen its sales and market volume dwindle in recent years, and a succession of model changes, not always well planned or executed have seen it depend on its Daily Van and cab chassis for the major share of its volume.

Now there is a new Iveco flagship heavy duty model, the S-Way and it comes with many claims and promises, not dissimilar to those made for its predecessor X-Way a few years back, and for earlier models as well.

While The X-Way failed to win too many buyers, there is some evidence that the S-Way is a much better truck and so long as Iveco gets its act together in Australia in terms of its sales and after sales support then it may help the brand turn a significant corner.

Freed of the burden of a local manufacturing facility, following the closure of the historic but hugely outdated Dandenong plant, the local Iveco operation under the stewardship of former senior Daimler executive Michael May, now has a clean sheet to get on with things and plan for a brighter future here. May apparently has strong ties to Iveco’s global CEO, Gerrit Marx , and so long as Marx stays in power, it might just give the local arm the sort of management and policy stability that has been lacking for some time.

When we first drove the S-Way for a few laps of the Anglesea test track back in March the experience was all too brief and certainly the quality of the early production models didn’t reach great heights. However there was enough for us to see some potential. Given the short drive experience and promise of better quality from production models, we were prepared to give Iveco some credit, and at the time we said the S-Way certainly left the company with no excuses now, and that it was really up to the company to sell the truck.

So there we were about three months later at Iveco’s Sydney dealer in Huntingwood, ready to climb aboard the S-Way, coupled to a B Double set grossing about 55 tonnes, for a drive overnight to Brisbane.

The drive up the Pacific is a pretty standard one for line haul operators these days with the dual carriage way motorway taking over as the main trunk route, making a safer and faster route than the old inland New England highway.

We were given a thorough briefing on the S-Way by Iveco tech guy, Lenny Pineda, the TCO and telematics lead for Iveco ANZ,

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who also gave us a rundown on the new Iveco On Easy Way app, which is a phone based driver assistance app and part of the Iveco On telematics system. The app gives drivers access to data on performance and driving style including fuel consumption, safety and overall vehicle running, as well as giving access to remote and real assistance along with information about the vehicle ( linked by its particular VIN). It also allows drivers to use their phone as a remote control for cabin lighting, window opening and closing and locking doors as well as controlling the audio, which is really useful when taking some rest in the sleeper.

There are also a number of other functions including a voice activated assistance request called Driver Pal, using the Alexa voice control system.

Once we received the briefing and the truck was fuelled up we were ready to tackle the fringe of Sydney’s peak hour heading north and east on the M7-M2 to the North Connex tunnel. Piloting a B Double into peak traffic in Sydney rarely fills us with joy, but this was a surprise. Not only was the S-Way easy to manoeuvre, quiet and remarkably punchy for a 13 litre 550 hp truck, the traffic was unusually easy. The North Connex has certainly made things a lot simpler than the old Pennant Hills Rd slog and must save fleets enormous amounts in fuel despite the hefty toll fees.

Out on the M1 Pacific Motorway in remarkably quick time we gave the S-Way its head.

The run from Sydney to Brisbane has a lot going for it as a test for a B-Double.

Firstly it is as we said earlier a route that a lot of trucks use every night. Apart from that it offers a reasonable distance to really get a good feel for how a truck performs, with some strong hill tests and apart from the drag through the Coffs Harbour CBD, it is an uninterrupted run that really lets a truck get into its stride.

The climb up out of the Hawkesbury saw the 13 litre Cursor dig a lot deeper from its surprising well of torque than we could have believed, and the truck held a really good road speed all the way to the top and again out of the Mooney Mooney Bridge.

The S-Way 6x4 was equipped with the AS or Active Space cab, which is the biggest available and really targets the line haul operator. The S-Way is also available in Active Day or Active Time variants. But in our version it had a flat floor with heaps of headroom to move around the cab as well as a nice big sleeper bunk , that we would be testing later in the drive.

“ PILOTING A B DOUBLE INTO PEAK TRAFFIC IN SYDNEY RARELY FILLS US WITH JOY, BUT THIS WAS A SURPRISE”

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SPECIFICATIONS: IVECO S-WAY 6X4 AS PRIME MOVER Engine: Cursor 13 Displacement: 12.9L Max Power: 550hp at 1600rpm (std: 530hp at 1700rpm) Max Torque: 2500Nm at 1000rpm (std: 2400Nm at 980rpm)

“THE IVECO S-WAY HAS DELIVERED SURPRISING PERFORMANCE, SURPRISING COMFORT AND SURPRISING EFFICIENCY. IT DOES THE JOB PERFECTLY WELL AND ALSO DELIVERS SOME STRONG PRICE BENEFITS”

Transmission: HiTronix 16TX Type: 16-speed automated manual Tare Weight: 8701kg GVM: 27,600kg GCM: 70,000kg Front Suspension: Parabolic spring with hydraulic dampers Rear Suspension: Eight bellow air bags with ECAS Front Brakes: 432mm ventilated discs Rear Brakes: 432mm ventilated discs Fuel: 1010L (630L RHS, 380L LHS) AdBlue: 80L Warranty: Three years/750,000km, whichever comes first (optional: Up to five years/1,000,000km)

Under that low flat floor sat the Cursor 13 litre, the largest power plant Iveco offers, sitting above its sibling 9 and 11 litre versions. The 13-litre in this flagship S-Way was the high output 550hp optional version which also delivers 2500Nm of torque. It is available in a 530hp /2400Nm version as well, which would be more aimed at single trailer intrastate work.

One of the 13-litre’s big advantages and why we think it performs better than you would expect a 13 litre to perform, is its ZF sourced Hi-Tronix 16-speed AM/T. This gearbox is extremely well matched to the Iveco delivering seamless shifts, well matched to the torque delivery of the engine.

Once into stride on the gently rolling hills into Beresfield and the busy connection across the Hunter River at Hexham, The S-Way had an easy amble, delivering , quiet, fuss free progress. With the cruise control set on 100km/h and the engine sitting at around 1600 rpm, the whole thing just hummed along.

Quietness is a signature of most

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European trucks these days and the Iveco is no exception. Though not ultimately as quiet as say a Mercedes Actros with MirrorCam, it is still very comfortable, even when tackling hills with the engine working hard on a climb. Settle back punch up your fave sound track and take in the road ahead.

As it was the depths of winter when tackling this drive, the sun was setting by the time we reached Wyong and the S-Way’s lights were required to take over to light the way ahead.

The LED lighting is impressive delivering a strong spread across the road on low beam, and on the crowded motorway there wasn’t much chance to test the high beams, that would come later through Northern NSW in the early morning hours with few other vehicles around. The spread and reach of the high beam left no dark spots and gives great vision far off down the road. Importantly the potency of the low beams means that when you switch back you don’t feel as though you are plunged into veritable darkness.

The drive environment for the driver is very comfortable, well laid out and ergonomic in its design. Climb up into the cab and you’re greeted with a nicely shaped and multi-adjustable air suspended drivers and passenger seats and a well designed, well-dimensioned wheel, which is also mutli-adjustable. We had no problems finding a comfortable and relaxed driving position that enabled us to bang out eight hours of solid driving, before retiring to the bunk for some shut eye.

Standard features on the S-Way test truck included Automated Emergency Braking, adaptive cruise, lane departure warning, electronic stability control, antislip regulator and hill-hold, along with Driver Attention Support and Drive Style Evaluation.

The cockpit is simple and well designed with a small-ish arched instrument binnacle housing a speedo and tacho on either side of a small LED screen in the centre and an analogue fuel gauge and water temp gauge at the bottom. The centre info screen is really easy to read and despite

being relatively small it displays everything you need in a clear way. It indicates the gear the truck is in, outside air temp, and cruise control settings along the top, with a trip readout in the middle which can be switched between trip 1 or Trip 2 if you need to run a second tally. There is also an indicator to show the gap selected for the adaptive cruise. Simple yet very effective.

In the centre of the dash is another small-ish info screen with navigation audio controls for radio, media player and Apple Car Play (via cable), and a read out from the Iveco On system. Again smaller than some latest gen trucks but perfectly laid out making it easy to read and operate.

Controls on the steering wheel include cruise control and speed limiter on one spoke and on the other the ability to control audio and info screens, while on the back of the spokes there are volume and channel controls for the audio unit.

Looking forward from the S-Way cockpit it offers excellent vision for the driver, with great side vision as well , and mirrors that do the job delivering good rear view while

sitting solidly with no vibrations.

As the night dragged into the early morning our journey had us north of Grafton with the aim of pulling into the rest area at Bundjalung just short of Ballina.

Before pulling up for the night though, the Iveco was a joy in the cold, crisp night air and it absolutely hummed along, belting out the kays with very strong fuel efficiency, and without hesitation on any of the hills.

Pulling into the rest area it was just a matter of drawing the curtains and settling into the sleeper for some solid kip. After four hours of zeds we were back on the road around 7am heading for some brekky at the Ballina truck stop.

The run from there to Brisbane was a straightforward transaction and only the unending Gold Coast M1 road works slowed what would be otherwise a pretty smooth trip. Even then the Iveco handled the stop start traffic with ease and was as smooth as silk.

Rolling along in traffic you can slow the truck easily using the excellent five stage

engine brake/intarder, which allows you to slow the truck without reverting to the service brakes unless absolutely necessary.

The engine brake and intarder are among the best in the business and when combined with the Iveco’s big-ventilated discs all round ensure that 55 tonnes can be stopped very efficiently and predictably.

By the time we pulled into Iveco Brisbane in Wacol, the S-Way had registered some seriously impressive fuel figures of just under 2.02 km/litre, which for a 13 litre hauling 55 tonnes would please any operator.

The Iveco S-Way is in many ways a surprising truck. It delivered surprising performance, surprising comfort and surprising efficiency. It does the job perfectly well and also delivers some strong price benefits, as we said at the outset, the task for Iveco is to convince the buyers, who have gotten out of the habit of buying the brand in recent times, to give it a try.

Similarly it has to get its dealers back in the habit of selling the likes of S-Way. There really are no excuses.

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Technology

THERE’S BEEN A SUBTLE CHANGE IN THE LANGUAGE BEING USED BY HINO WHEN IT COMES TO IT’S HYBRID TRUCKS. WHERE ONCE THEY SIMPLE CALLED THEM HYBRIDS, THE COMPANY HAS NOW LABELLED THEM ELECTRIC HYBRIDS. IT IS A SUBTLE CHANGE THAT COULD BE VIEWED AS EITHER A WAY OF PAPERING OVER THE FACT THAT HINO DOES NOT HAVE A PURE BATTERY ELECTRIC OF ITS OWN YET, NOR DOES IT SEEM LIKELY IT WILL HAVE ONE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, OR THAT IT IS MERELY EMPHASISING THE EFFICIENCY OF A BOOST OF AN ELECTRIC/DIESEL HYBRID COMBINATION. WE DROVE THE LATEST SPEC HINO HYBRID UP AGAINST A DIESEL RECENTLY TO SEE THE COMPARISON.

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ino’s hybrid trucks have been around for quite some time now. The 300 Series Hino Hybrid has been operating in Australia for the past 15 years, and it’s fair to say that the technology has not really set the sales charts alight.

That can probably be sheeted home to a number of things, including a lack of understanding in the marketplace, a scepticism of the technology by potential buyers and perhaps the fact that until recently it’s been easier to sell a diesel than a hybrid truck.

So far in 2023 Hino has sold around 120 hybrid models in Australia to the end of June, according to figures we have seen, which means they account for just a shade over 3.7 per cent of the brand’s total sales

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in Australia, so as we say buyers are hardly knocking the doors down to add hybrids to their fleets. However even though in recent times, the rapid increase in interest in electric drivelines in trucks and a growing pressure on large corporations to reduce emissions has seen a clamour to get onboard a zero emission or at least a low emission future, battery electric sales haven’t really taken off yet either.

In June according to TIC’s alternative fuel truck sales figures Hino sold 49 Hybrids for the month or around 40 per cent of its 120 hybrid sales for the year to date, so something is starting to move.

The threat for Hino’s hybrid electric model however could be the oncoming rush of reasonably priced battery electric trucks with the arrival of such things

as Isuzu’s own battery electric N Series sometime in the next 18 months, or more immediately trucks from battery electric newcomers, like Foton Mobility. The newly arrived Chinese truck and bus maker registered 21 electric trucks in June to be the best selling pure battery electric brand with word that it has a lot more orders in the bank for months ahead.

So with no pure battery electric model on the horizon Hino is banking on its hybrid models to continue to provide it with a entrant in the ‘electric’ truck market delivering fuel savings and emissions reductions.

Part of Hino’s push was seen in the chance to do a test drive in a Hino 300 Series Hybrid 616 accompanied by a similar specced model on a run south from

the company’s Aussie HQ in the southern Sydney suburb of Woolooware to the steel city of Wollongong and back. The run roughly approximated a normal workday for a truck like this, around 250km and a mix of suburban, motorway and rural road running and plenty of stop start driving.

Alongside us in the cab of the Hino Hybrid was the company’s product strategy and planning guru. Daniel Petrovski who is a strong advocate for the Hybrid technology in trucks and foreshadowed a bunch of other Hino variants earmarked for potential sales in Australia.

Petrovski admits that hybrid sales have not been what they should have been in Australia and says that they have targeted to increase sales from the 50 odd hybrids they have been selling per year in recent

times, to 300 this year, which they appear to be on track to achieve.

“I think we haven’t sold it that well and there needs to be some basic education about the benefits of hybrid and how to get the best out of them,” Petrovski mentioned.

Petrovski and Hino point to a potential fuel saving of around 20 per cent for a hybrid over a comparable conventional diesel only truck, and to give an indication we were tailed throughout our drive by a diesel powered Hino 617 Trade pack, to enable us to have a pretty accurate comparison of fuel consumption between the two.

Petrovski was also selling the hybrid concept on the basis of the enormous amount of infrastructure that will be needed to enable larger fleets of electric

vehicles to be charged each day, pointing out that the hybrid only requires the normal fuel station network already in place.

However there also seems to be a lot of work going on behind the scenes to deliver that electrical and charging infrastructure to cope with an electric vehicle fleet which will not arrive in one burst but rather over many years of growth, so time will tell which train of thought is correct.

We climbed aboard the 616 Hybrid at Hino HQ for the trip south and like any hybrid machine the little Hino glided away from start pretty quietly and without any fuss or bother. Subtly and very seamlessly the diesel engine kicks in after a short time, blending with the electric motor that is integrated into the drive line, and which acts as a generator when decelerating or

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running downhill. This puts charge back into the hybrid’s battery to ensure plenty of charge when accelerating or climbing, supplementing the diesel’s drive.

Driving through the traffic of the Sutherland Shire in the mid-morning, following a thorough briefing on the hybrid concept, showed that the truck drives pretty much like a full diesel powered one.

The driveline of the hybrid runs through a six-speed AM/T so it is pretty much like driving a conventional diesel and is a benefit for operators struggling to attract skilled truck drivers.

Petrovski added to this with the fact that a hybrid reduces the wear on the clutch, even with an AM/T, because with the electric motor driving the initial acceleration of the truck from standstill, the transmission is being turned before the clutch is even engaged.

“The electric motor turns the transmission before the clutch is engaged, so there isn’t as much clutch wear because the electric motor starts to move the truck along before the clutch engages, so that means less friction and less wear, “ Petrovski explained.

The AMT also allows the driver to shift manually if needed or simply keep it in drive and allow the transmission’s electronic brain to do the work for you, and it does that reasonably efficiently.

Of course as a hybrid, when the truck pulls up at a set of traffic lights the diesel

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engine will stop and when the lights turn green the initial start-up is again on the electric motor before the diesel comes to life after the hard work is done by the electric motor. This is where some significant fuel usage benefits are achieved both at ide and in that high burn rate time for a diesel overcoming the inertia of the truck when accelerating.

Far from being difficult or complex to drive the hybrid is very easy to pilot, hosing down at least one fear that truck operators have expressed to us about adopting the technology.

The other resistance we have been made aware of is what savings can be gained from a hybrid and how they compare with the added purchase price for one?

After a four or so hour’s behind the wheel of the Hybrid on the run to the ‘Gong and back the truck returned fuel consumption of 8.09 km/litre compared with 7.20km/ litre used in the Hino 616 diesel that tailed us on the drive. So that meant that the hybrid used about 12.29 per cent less fuel, which we have to say was not as impressive as we thought it might have been.

According to the figures Hino supplied following our drive the Hybrid’s 12.2 per cent less fuel consumption is just part of the equation with Petrovski pointing to the reduced emissions and better environmental credentials that cannot be necessarily factored into any financial

equation at this point in time, and can’t be factored into the added purchase price of the hybrid over a similar spec conventional truck. In the murky realm of truck pricing it is at times difficult to get an exact price on specific trucks and certainly unlike cars, truck makers don’t generally publish an official price list but in this instance Hino opened up for us.

According to figures from Daniel Petrovski the 616 AMT 3430 Wide HV Trade Ace Hybrid Hino like the one we tested would cost about $85220. This is a premium of around $16,635 over the 616 AT Wide TradeAce conventional diesel at around $68585 recommended retail. that means that the payback on the added purchase price, given fuel savings would be about three years. That of course doesn’t factor in those claimed reductions in maintenance and wear for the hybrid.

So with Hino basing its figures on an average distance travelled annually for these trucks at 68,500km, and given a price of $2.00 per litre it estimates that the diesel only truck would use around 9510 litres in fuel each year, while the Hybrid would offer a fuel advantage over 12 months of about 1041 litres, with an estimated total fuel used at 8469.1 litres per annum. So on $2 per litre the fuel advantage cost would be around $2082 per year.

Factoring in the vehicle purchase price premium for the Hybrid over the

conventional diesel, and based on the fuel consumption figures above, Hino reckons that a customer using a hybrid on a similar route would be saving about $40 per week on total fuel and maintenance price costs.

Across a year that benefit increases to around $472 and across five years Hino reckons the advantage to the Hybrid is around $2378.

Hino was at pains to point out that the drive route utilised in the comparison was a high kilometre outer metropolitan / regional application and would “traditionally” not be considered a suitable application for a low emissions vehicle like the Hybrid. It says the Euro6 Hino Hybrid now has greater suitability to these applications then previous models, due to changes in the transmission / electric motor operation and the application of the regenerative braking, as well as final drive ratio changes.

Petrovski also emphasised that the less fuel used, whatever that amount might be, means less emissions and that with the hybrid’s ICE powerplant being a Euro 6 standard it means that the emissions are even less than earlier model diesels.

Hino product planning boss point to the fact that it can also be viewed in another light, considering it instead from an efficiency point of view and in particular just getting more kilometres out of each litre of diesel.

He also mounts the case in favour of the hybrid over a battery electric truck saying that the run that we tested the hybrid on would be even less suited to a pure battery electric truck, particularly given the hilly running, motorway conditions and range situations. The electric truck he says, would need a charge at some point on a run like that. That is something we would like to test in the future before quoting that as fact.

He also emphasised this country’s power grid has a high CO2 output and that the alternatives for companies wanting to charge without using brown energy, such as solar panels etc. present a difficulty. While we go along with Petrovski’s pitch to some extent, it must also be considered that he is basing his numbers on data available now or from the past. The reality is that our grid is rapidly changing in terms of green energy and it is envisaged that by the time battery electric trucks become common place then the situation will have changed dramatically in how power is generated in Australia.

“If you look at the figures for one kilowatt hour of power from the grid then you are talking about 0.656 kg of CO2,” Petrovski tells us.

He compares this to figures he quoted for what diesel puts out in terms of CO2 and that he says that an electric truck charged from the grid would emit three times the emissions that a diesel truck would.

He based this on the fact that one litre

of diesel contains 10kW hours of energy and would emit 2.68kgs of CO2. That Petrovski says would mean that if you were to get the equivalent like for like emissions for 1kWh from the grid to 1kWh from diesel then you could divide that 2.68kg of CO2 by ten and that equals 0.268kg.

However the figure for grid power that was quoted by Petrovski appears to be a figure formulated in 2020. Figures from 2021 show that CO2 emissions have dropped to around 0.529kg for a kWh of power in Australia. That figure has changed further in the past two years, particularly given that in 2020 only 24 per cent of Australia’s power was generated by green power sources. That figure increased to 32.5 per cent of energy by green energy in 2021 and to 35.9 per cent last year. So given those dramatic increases in green energy that figure of CO2 produced in 2021 dropped further in 2022 and further again this year, so the CO2 advantage being spruiked for diesel is reducing all the time and will continue to decrease as more green power comes on line.

Which ever way you cut it a hybrid truck still has an ICE power plant that emits green house gases, albeit less than a pure diesel truck, and while a battery electric truck charged by the grid may currently mean more Co2 emitted, that will drop below the diesel figure sometime in the next few years.

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That’s not to say that the hybrid concept is wrong or bad, far from it. It’s just that it is at best a bridge to a totally zero emission future for trucks that will come quicker than many believe. And herein lies our belief that Hino as part of the Toyota empire might skip the whole battery electric power train and use the hybrid as a bridge to Toyota’s clear favourite option, hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Toyota is one of the world leaders in hydrogen technology, both in fuel cells and in combustion engines, but has virtually no really high volume pure battery electric vehicles, which has led some pundits to prophesise that Toyota and by extension Hino are aiming at a H2 future not a BEV one.

While Petrovski did not necessarily totally confirm this theory, he did say that hydrogen will play a major role in Hino’s zero emission vehicle future. Even then he believes.

Petrovski also pointed to issues that he believes would weigh against battery electric in terms of particular applications and industries and says that efficient hybrids would need to be used well after electric and hydrogen takes over in city and on highway operations.

“Battery electric will struggle in rural fire services, can you imagine a battery EV fire truck in the bushfires we had back in 2019, the power grid was down across a huge amount of rural Australia, so recharging would have been impossible, there was no

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electricity available,” Petrovski said.

“There’s also practical and vocational decisions to be made over hybrid versus battery electric in applications that involve off-road exploring or remote recoveries, mining and exploration which would be beyond a BEV’s capabilities,” he said “You might be able to use hydrogen in some of those applications, but remote filling with hydrogen will be difficult and even though they will have a huge range you’ll still need to fill remotely,” he added.

T&TA doesn’t necessarily agree with Petrovski on this one and indicators we have been made aware of is that hydrogen will be made available in remote areas because the large mining and ag corps will need to have it to satisfy their zero emission obligations The 616 Hybrid we drove to Wollongong and back was powered by Hino’s N04CWR engine which with the help of its electric motor coupled to the diesel delivers 470Nm of torque, which is the critical figure, along with 110 kW of power. That was more than ample and the hybrid galloped along nicely, whether in traffic, hillclimbing or on the motorway.

Hino’s general claim is that a hybrid model will on average deliver a 20 per cent fuel saving over a totally diesel powered truck. However, the nature of the Sutherland-Wollongong run we tackled was not as well suited to a hybrid as a typical inner city suburban route where

he reckons it truly shines and which would deliver even greater savings. What the route did deliver however was the fact that the Hybrid is adaptable to a range of conditions and offers savings all round.

It also doesn’t take into account service, maintenance and the total cost of ownership. While the hybrid is around $16,000 more expensive than the diesel, Petrovski says vehicle buyers will get that difference back in just three years. His figures show a diesel costing $2028 to run each month, while a hybrid’s costs are $1766. That includes lower maintenance costs and lower brake change intervals, not to mention the half tonne of CO2 savings each month.

Petrovski believes most customers opt for a lease arrangement, while buyers will keep the truck for between seven to 10 years.

With around 700 Hino hybrids currently on the road in Australia, and another 300 on order, Petrovski says the hybrid has hit a sweet spot for the manufacturer and will be a massive advantage over the next five to 10 years, even more so as there is little or no competition in the hybrid market.

“We’ve been trying to give the customers what they want, a vehicle that cuts their emissions and cuts their operating costs.

“We can offer cost reduction, environmental improvements and operational benefits for fleets,” Petrovski says. “This is our blue sky, blue ocean area. It really is a unique time for us.”

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Industry Interview

IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT MAN HAS NEVER ACHIEVED GREAT HEIGHTS IN THE TRUCK SALES CHARTS IN AUSTRALIA, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE BRAND HAS BEEN AROUND FOR AN AWFULLY LONG TIME. THE GERMAN BRAND HAS HAD NICHE SUCCESSES WITH VARIOUS FLEETS FOR ITS TRUCKS AND ALSO FOR ITS BUSES WITH METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT TRANSPORT AUTHORITIES. IT’S ALSO HAD NICHE SUCCESS WITH ITS OFF-ROAD TRUCKS AND OTHER SPECIALIST MODELS, BUT THE NUMBERS WERE NEVER REALLY IN HIGH-VOLUMES. EARLY MANS ARRIVED DOWN UNDER IN THE 1930S AND MANS WERE EVEN ASSEMBLED HERE IN THE LATE 1960S WITH A FACTORY AT KURRI KURRI IN THE HUNTER VALLEY. BUT DESPITE ALL THAT MAN HAS NEVER BEEN A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE HEAVY TRUCK MARKET IN AUSTRALIA, HOWEVER IF THE LATEST GOALS ARE ACHIEVED THAT MAY ALL CHANGE. AT THE BRISBANE TRUCK SHOW RECENTLY WE SAT DOWN WITH MAN’S BOSS OF THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION, THOMAS HEMMERICH, ALONG WITH LOCAL DISTRIBUTOR PENSKE AUSTRALIA’S BOSS OF ON HIGHWAY OPERATIONS, CRAIG LEE, TO HEAR THE BRAND’S PLANS TO LIFT THE VOLUME AND PROFILE OF THE GERMAN MARQUE IN THE AUSTRALIAN TRUCK AND BUS MARKET.

Penske On Highway Product boss, Craig Lee

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MAN’s Thomas Hemmerlch

Penske Australia’s US boss, Randall Seymore

“ OUR STRATEGY CALLS FOR US TO SELL MORE THAN 1000 TRUCKS A YEAR PLUS IN THE FUTURE AND WE ARE FIRMLY FOCUSSED ON THAT GOAL”

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homas Hemmerich is based in Korea but oversees MAN’s operations for the entire Asia Pacific region and describes the markets as highly competitive with hundreds of brands playing. Specifically he also sees the Australian market as super competitive and one in which MAN is seeking to do better in.

“Generally MAN has not gained critical mass in the Australian market and. We really need to double or triple the volume here,” Hemmerich said.

He emphasised that, apart from the MAN defence contract sales which inflated the brand’s sales performance

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in Australia, the brand has only sold around 300 to 400 truck a year here in last 10 years.

“Our strategy calls for us to sell more than 1000 trucks a year plus in the future and we are firmly focussed on that goal,” he said.

Thomas said the company had a clear dedication to electrifying its truck range and that will help prime the Australian market for that increase in volume as the company looks to capitalise on what will be a growing demand for zero emission vehicles in the commercial sector.

“We are aiming to have the first pilot trucks here in 2025 and these will be 6x2 not 6x4 as these will be aimed at the

metropolitan distribution market, not line haul,” he said.

“We are also looking closely at solutions for the mining industry with 8x8 zero emission trucks to meet demand for zero emission solutions in the mining industry,” he added.

MAN is of course a subsidiary of the VW owned Traton commercial vehicle conglomerate, along with the continually well performed Swedish brand Scania and its relatively newly acquired Navistar/ International organisation in the US. One of the things that Traton and its boss Christian Levin has stated clearly is that there will be a lot more rationalisation

of parts and componentry across the Group and more sharing of powertrains including the recently developed and introduced double overhead cam six cylinder diesels, which have been launched in Scania trucks. The so called Super engines have been proclaimed as the ‘last’ internal combustion truck engine to be developed by Traton.

Hemmerich admitted that this would become a common family engine but they would be fully developed and adapted for MAN rather than it being exactly the same as the units that would be seen in the Traton sibling brands.

He also emphasised that Traton’s

philosophy for zero emission is largely based around battery electric trucks again reiterating the view that hydrogen is not efficient enough and will continue to be too expensive in the short to medium term.

“We don’t think hydrogen will be viable in the next ten years, on the basis of the cost and efficiency and that battery electric is the best solution,” said Hemmerich.

MAN is very reliant on its European home markets for the lion’s share of its volume with Germany accounting for around 30 per cent of its overall volume, with very strong volume levels in neighbouring markets in Europe, including Austria where the brand has around 40

per cent of the truck market and similar numbers in Poland.

Cleary the brand doesn’t like having so many of its eggs in those few baskets, even if they are large, easily accessible markets close by the company’s home in Germany.

Hemmerich says there is a huge job ahead to grow MAN’s footprint on a more global basis and Australia is part of that push.

To prove that our market is of importance to the brand, global CEO of MAN Truck and Bus, Alexander Vlaskamp was in Australia back in March, along with Penske Australia’s US boss, Randall Seymore to help open a new dealership at Lytton in Brisbane and to have a flying visit to view

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Drive the road of change

“THE LATEST MAN TG3 IS A FANTASTIC TRUCK, IT WAS EURO TRUCK OF THE YEAR” the company’s operation in this country.

In fact although Penske is the local distributor, MAN has embedded support staff within Penske Australia’s Wacol office.

So is MAN’s ambitious target of tripling its volume in Australia an achievable one?

Well we think it certainly is, particularly given the fact that the latest generation of MANs are so impressive in terms of performance and ability.

As well as that it seems Penske has also redoubled its efforts to lift the brand as it has done with its other major brand, Western Star. Both are very different brands and there is little chance the two could cannibalise market from each other. But Penske has displayed a new and much stronger commitment to both brands, not the least being because of the enthusiastic stewardship of its on highway product

boss Craig Lee. Lee, sitting in on the interview with Hemmerich told us that they now have tools to achieve the increased volume that both MAN and Penske are aiming for.

“To be competitive in the Australian market you need a good up to date, modern truck, good after sales support and a good dealer network and we have all of that now,” said Lee. “The latest MAN TG3 is a fantastic truck, it was Euro truck of the year, we have new dealer facilities in Melbourne, the new operation in South Brisbane and our split is roughly 50 per cent company owned and 50 per cent dealer owned, which is a good mix we believe, he added.

In many ways, we believe Lee was intimating, without saying, that really MAN no longer has any excuses to fall

back on in Australia, and no reason why the brand could not or should not grow to that 1000 plus volume that Thomas Hemmerich is seeking here.

Lee adds that it is fine to have the world’s best truck but that it will fail if customers don’t get the right levels of support and after sales backing.

“This is a people business and that is just as important as the truck if not more and that is why both MAN and Penske have invested in the brand here, and why Alexander Vlaskamp visited here back in March,” Lee added.

With that our time was up and we had to bid Thomas and his team good bye to head back to the frenetic activity of the Brisbane Truck Show and to ponder the chance for MAN to become a much bigger player in the Australian truck market.

Safety. Performance. Comfort.

ALL THE WAY The new IVECO S-Way range takes the on road and liveability experience to the next level.

Drivers enjoy a SAFER driving experience with world class driver assist technology.

The S-Way cab maximises aerodynamics, while the Fuel Efficiency System continuously evaluates conditions boosting PERFORMANCE. The driving ergonomics and cab have been reimagined and designed for supreme COMFORT. S-Way makes tomorrow safer, more productive, and even more comfortable.

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BIRD OF PREY

FORD’S IMPRESSIVE FLAGSHIP DUAL CAB UTE THE RAPTOR HAS BEEN GIVEN A SERIOUS UPGRADE IN ITS LATEST NEW GENERATION RANGER LINE UP, WITH A NEW POWER PLANT, AND EVEN BETTER SUSPENSION PACKAGING MAKING THIS BIRD OF PREY ONE THAT COMMANDS SERIOUS RESPECT. HERE IS OUR ROAD TEST.

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he first time I drove the previous model Ford Raptor I was moved to take it back to the garage where I had picked it up to ask the Ford guy if there was something wrong with the then two-litre bi-turbo four cylinder diesel. It lacked the oomph of the previous five cylinder 3.2 litre engine and felt distinctly ‘doughy’.

I was wrong, there was nothing amiss with the Raptor, it was just that the power plant was at best underwhelming, at best it was about economy. Given the warpaint and performance image the Raptor’s persona was attempting to project, it was at odds with the actual driving experience.

That was then, this is now and with the new gen Ranger, the Ford engineers come up with a very different Raptor, which still uses the highly refined Fox Shocks suspension package but now comes with a three-litre twin turbo V6 petrol engine, which is an engine that matches the image and underlying ride and handling package the Raptor possesses.

The V6 twin turbo pumps out an impressive 292kW of power and 583Nm of torque and is matched to Ford’s impressive 10-speed automatic, which ensures that the shifts are fast, smooth and short, always leaving the big pick up in the prime of its torque band, and never revving too hard.

Couple that with the aforementioned Fox suspension setup with coil springs all round and electronically controlled terrain modes, and you have a very complete package that blows anything on the Australian ute market completely out of the water.

While all of its opponents, (excluding the big V8 US pick ups increasingly in vogue Down Under) clatter around with torquey but ultimately uninspiring diesels, the Raptor’s petrol V6 really does get up and boogey with impressive acceleration, that pushes you back in your seat. It just puts a smile on your dial as you pilot it up a twisty tarmac hill or on a challenging gravel road with a very engaging driver experience.

A big part of that is the Fox Suspension package, something Ford Australia pioneered on the previous Raptor and with the talent of the Ford Australia engineering team in ride and handling, they have calibrated it well and it perfectly suits Australian conditions.

Unlike most Japanese utes such as the HiLux, Navara and even the DMax, which are oversprung and underdamped, the Fox shocks and the spring ratings on the Raptor are perfectly mated. Hit a decent bump in

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“ INSIDE THE CAB OF THE RAPTOR IS AN INTERIOR THAT FITS THE PERFORMANCE CREDENTIALS AND THE EXTERIOR APPEARANCE THE FORD DESIGNERS HAVE GIVEN IT” the Ford and the springs soak it up with the shocks damping the oscillations perfectly.

It means you aren’t left bouncing down the road as if on a pogo stick, which is often the experience with other utes.

Suspension is something that has been overlooked in engineering utes for way to long, and while the Fox package adds considerably to the cost of the Raptor, the reality is others could do much better with a more modest investment. With so many people buying utes as their everyday cars, with little load task, better ride and handling would be a massive step forward and make them much easier to drive both on and off road.

Drive the Raptor into a challenging fast corner and it stays composed and flat with superb road holding even in two wheel drive. Switch to four wheel drive and it has even more road grip.

The shocks can also be adjusted for damping with a number of different modes available via a switch on the steering wheel.

The driver can choose from Comfort, Sport and Off Road modes on the fly, changing the ride and handling characteristics to

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suit the conditions. Ford also gives drivers a range of steering modes and you can also change the loudness of the exhaust depending on your tastes.

It is not cheap and it is not your average ute but it is fair to say that the Raptor is the best handling and riding, out of the ‘factory’ ute on the Australian market today, particularly when the going gets rough.

Power the Raptor over the bumps and corrugations endemic on Ausssie dirt roads you discover that you can drive this ute almost as fast as you can on tarmac and at a much better pace than you could manage in one of the Japanese dual cab one tonners.

Thanks to the ten-speed auto the options available to the driver off road are almost endless. Slot the Raptor in low range and you can take it through some remarkably challenging terrain with ease. If the going does get even tougher there is always the diff locks and terrain modes to add more traction assistance, while those Foxes at each corner mean the suspension travel is awesome and the wheels stay on the

ground more often.

Inside the cab of the Raptor is an interior that fits the performance credentials and the exterior appearance the Ford designers have given it. The test truck we drove had attractive black leather seats with orange accents while the dash, console, steering wheel and entire interior package just works giving it a distinctly practical and sporty feel.

Overall the interior package is extremely comfortable and well suited to this being an everyday drive around town, a long distance touring machine or an off road battle truck, tackling the roughest of conditions. The seats in particular are special and arguably the best in a dual cab ute in this country.

An interesting addition is that the front buckets can be laid flat and in locked into the back seat, giving you a full length bed to grab some shut eye if necessary and with more comfort from the traditional ‘roll back’ front buckets.

Cast around the cabin and the equipment levels of the Raptor offers further reason to be impressed, mind you at its price point

of close to $86000, you would want strong levels of equipment and creature comfort.

The dash is well designed and laid out with the Ford Ranger’s signature huge, central infotainment touch screen in a vertical format containing the majority of interior controls. Thankfully the people down at Ford Australia’s design and engineering studios in Melbourne figured out that having a dial for audio volume as well as for heating and air con is an essential thing in a machine that at legal speeds is covering about 27 metres every second. At that pace the last thing you want as a driver is to be fiddling around trying to find the correct digital mode on a touch screen.

As well as wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto being displayed on the big screen it also displays images from the Ranger’s array of hi res cameras around the car, including an excellent reversing camera, a birds eye 360 degree view when parking as well as a tow bar trailer hitching view.

With our favourite Spotify playlist on and controlled via the infotainment screen,

the audio experience was superb, thanks to the ten-speaker Bang&Olufsen system, which boasts tweeters on the dash, a centre speaker and a subwoofer under the back seat. Turn this one up loud and it will blow your mind and probably the glass in some surrounding houses.

All of the instruments and switch gear are easy to use and read while the cab has plenty of cup holders and nooks for stowing the day to day detritus There are two cupholders in the central console as well as two more beautifully designed receptacles on either side of the dash below the air con vents, while the door pockets have a bottle nook that will take a one litre water bottle comfortably.

Oh, that’s right this is a ute! That is something that is sometimes overlooked but the Raptor has the Ranger’s terrific load tub, which is massive and fitted with a spray-in tub liner as standard, while there are excellent tie down loops in each corner of the tub to prevent scratches when loaded up. There are tie-down points in all four corners, while there is also a 12volt power outlet and built-in LED lighting

around the tub, which is something often overlooked in ute designs, which is silly considering after dark use is part of a ute’s life we reckon.

The Raptor boasts towing capacity of just 2500kg, which is a metric tonne less than the 3500kg tow capacity for normal Rangers, while the Raptor’s payload is just 735 kg.

Overall the Raptor is an impressive machine. It goes, rides, handles and stops better than any of its key opponents in the ute market. The performance from the twin turbo V6 is extraordinary, if a little thirsty and the handling and ride offered by the Fox Suspension is exceptional.

We averaged around 12.5 litres per 100 km during our time with the Raptor, which is not great but remember this is a 2.67tonne ute that can do 0-100km/h in just 6.5 seconds so there is always a trade off in these equations.

While Australia doesn’t have a local car manufacturing operation any more we can at least be proud that cars like the Ranger Raptor are still designed and engineered here and for that we should have immense pride.

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Company Car

THE QUESTION WE FIELDED MORE THAN ANY OTHER WHILE WE WERE DRIVING THE CUPRA BORN WAS ‘WHAT’S A CUPRA?’.

IT IS A FAIR QUESTION GIVEN ITS RELATIVELY RECENT ARRIVAL ON THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET AND THE LACK OF AWARENESS IN THE CUPRA BRAND. IN SHORT IT IS THE NEW NAME FOR THE SPANISH SUBSIDIARY OF VOLKSWAGEN, SEAT. WE RECENTLY TRIED THE FIRST ELECTRIC CUPRA ON THE MARKET, THE BORN AND FOUND AN INTERESTING ELECTRIC NEWCOMER.

C

upra, was originally the performance arm of Seat, but in recent times the decision was made to call all of the Spanish cars Cupra and to drop the Seat name.

The Cupra Born is the first all-electric model to be launched by Cupra and the VW group in Australia.The Born is roughly the equivalent of a Volkswagen Golf, size and formula wise, and its VW sibling in Europe is known as the I.D 3.

Volkswagen has a pretty ambitious target to commit to an all-electric model line-up by 2030 and the Born is a good start to a journey that is going to accelerate at a rapid rate.

Cupra claims a driving range of a shade more than 500km, and has a starting price of $59,990 plus on road costs, both of

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which are impressive numbers as you won’t get any other electric car in Australia with a price below $60.000 and a range above 500 km. You have to pay a lot more for a plus 500km range, in the order of $10,000 or more, so in that regard the Born is a gem.

Cupra is only offering one variant of the Born in Australia, with the high-spec 77kWh model available here, while European buyers have a choice of lower priced, less powerful and less well equipped models.

The Born we get in Oz boasts 170kW of power and 310 Nm of torque and is driven via the rear wheels like sports sedans of old.

While there is only one model, there are two option packs, the $2900 interior pack and the $2600 Performance Pack. Our test car was equipped with the Interior Pack which included a Beats sound system with

subwoofer and a 395-watt amplifier, as well as blue Dinamica bucket seats, with Dinamica being a microfleece fabric.

The interior of the Born is a beautiful space aesthetically, with lots of nooks and spaces for stowage, excellent outward vision and a nice design that just feels comfortable.

The Dinamica fabric seats are supremely comfortable, look great and feel even better.

The suede like feel means you don’t slide around and they hold you nicely while they also have a massage and heating function as well as electric adjustment, not what you expect in a hatch like the Born, but they were a welcome addition.

As we said, the Born’s interior is an impressive space with plenty of room for four adults (the interior package deletes the

middle space in the rear seat meaning you lose one seat) , however the same cannot be said for the interface with the car’s controls and electronics. We found the controls a bit too smart for their own good, and just a bit to clunky and fiddly to make sense in a car.

The controls rely on touch and are hard to master, sometimes they work flawlessly, other times they require a bit of fiddling, particularly the volume control on the steering wheel which consumes too much attention and too much time to use easily.

Give us a volume knob which we can reach for without looking and turn the noise up or down.

Another thing that annoyed us was the air-conditioning controls, which are embedded in the infotainment screen and which are just clunky and hard to manage

while driving. In a busy world with too many other distractions having controls that are just another distraction is not a good idea.

The other pet hate of ours in the Born was the window switches on the driver’s door. Although it is a four door car, the driver’s window controls on the door’s arm rest only have two switches and the driver has to touch the button forward or back to give control over the front of back windows. This became a little painful and annoying after a while. The weight penalty for having dedicated switches for each window would be negligible and surely the complexity would be more difficult to design and implement. Perhaps the KISS principle should have been applied, Keep It Simple Stupid!

Apart from those gripes the rest of the Born interior is terrific with a great central console that features a wireless phone charge pad a reasonably big centre console storage space and a couple of cupholders, which is all very practical and easy to use.

Open the rear hatch and there is a mass of space for luggage and stowage with 385litres of capacity, with the battery sitting underneath the boot floor, meaning there is no room for a spare tyre, even a space saver, which is a continuing worry in Australia, given our road conditions.

Centre of the dash area is dominated by a massive 12-inch infotainment screen which interfaces with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and viewing for the 360 degree camera system. As we mentioned before the Infotainment system has its limitations

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and again is just a bit too clunky and hard to use with the touch system and the labelling of functions proving an issue for us.

In front of the driver is a 5.3 inch digital instrument screen which is good but not great. Again the designers have just been a bit too smart and made things to difficult operate quickly and efficiently. The instrument panel is a bit minimal with a speedometer, a graphic for the adaptive cruise-control system, and a choice of viewing either, navigation info or trip computer numbers.

The Cupra’s 170kW/310Nm single motor powertrain, which is contained in a rear e-axle, returns a claimed acceleration from 0-50km/h of 2.8 seconds which on first glance makes the Born sound like a supercar. However when you re-read the figure you realise the speed quoted is not as usually mentioned, 0-100km/h, which is a bit of a sleight of hand. The fact is the Born’s hefty mass of 1960kg, thanks to its large battery pack, means it has a fair bit of weight to move from a standing start.

Handling wise the Born does everything pretty well, although you do notice the weight when tackling swift direction changes.

This is despite the excellent feel and weight of the steering.

Stand on the throttle pedal and the Born blasts away from a standing start, as all electric cars generally do. However that

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initial burst of acceleration diminishes as the speed climbs, which is why Cupra quote that 0-50 figure.

The Born has front disc brakes, while at the rear it has drums, which is unusual these days, but the Born stops very well, although we did find it difficult to figure out how to maximise recuperative braking through the motor/generator.

For all of that the Born is a really nice, enjoyable drive, which is quiet, efficient and well mannered. Normal driving conditions gives the driver and occupants an excellent ride with supple suspension feel that flattens out bumps and potholes with a degree of sophistication.

Charging wise the Born can charge on AC power at up to 11kW, or via DC fast-charger at up to 170kW, and during our time with the car we achieved a consumption figure of 16.9kWh/100km which is just slightly better than the 17.0kWh/100km claimed by Cupra The bottom line is that the Cupra Born is a well-priced, very capable luxury hatch, admittedly with a few foibles and eccentricities, but with superb range and strong equipment levels and great interior space.

We enjoyed our time with Born even with our gripes and may even consider buying one.

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To find your nearest Isuzu Service Centre, visit isuzu.com.au Care. It’s what we do.

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