Transport & Trucking Australia May 2023

www.truckandbus.net.au Issue May 2023

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SUPER IMPOSED WE TEST SCANIA’S NEW TWIN CAM DIESELS

ISSN 2206-1495

9 772206 149012 >

43

FREIGHTLINER 126 TEST IVECO’S NEW S-WAY MAN TGX TEST HYUNDAI’S KIWI HYDROGEN TRUCK

RE A DY- TO - W O R K R A N G E

Playtime’s over.

You hear people talk about the “building game”. But it’s no game, it’s serious business. And you need a serious truck to handle bigger payloads. Isuzu Ready-to-Work trucks can carry around a tonne more than a typical ute, most only requiring a standard car licence. And you’ll be covered with Isuzu’s industry-leading six-year warranty. So, stop playing around.

Head to isuzu.com.au or visit your nearest Isuzu Truck Dealer now.

Warranty Warranty is is subject subject to to the the conditions conditions outlined outlined in in the the IAL IAL New New Vehicle Vehicle Warranty.

Warranty. 6 6 year year warranty warranty applies applies to to cab cab chassis chassis only only with with aa 3 3 year year warranty warranty on on ready-to-work ready-to-work truck truck body. body.

For For further further information information please please visit visit isuzu.com.au isuzu.com.au or or contact contact your your local local dealer. dealer. Children Children depicted depicted are are actors actors and and not not actually actually engaged engaged in in workplace workplace activities. activities. FSA/ISZS1501 FSA/ISZS1501

CONTENTS CONTACT DETAILS

FEATURES

PO Box 7046 Warringah Mall NSW 2100

14 SUPER IMPOSED

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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

Scania has clearly stated that its new double overhead cam diesel engines will be the last internal combustion truck power plants it and its parent company Traton will develop before we rush headlong into the brave new world of zero emission. We had the chance to drive both the ‘supermarket spec’ 460P and the line haul tuned 560 R versions of the Swedish maker’s new machines and we reckon they will sell as many as they can bring in.

YOU DESERVE A SMOOTHER, BETTER BUSINESS WITH CALTEX

20 CASCADING NUMBERS

The truck business is all about the numbers. Tonnage, length, number of pallets, horsepower and torque ratings, size of the sleeper, bumper to back of cab dimensions, diff ratios, the numbers go on and on.

All of those numbers are nothing new, but they gained added relevance recently when we had the chance to do a road test in a Freightliner Cascadia 126 configured for 34 pallets using a B double set up. See what we mean? Numbers, numbers everywhere but what do they all mean?

26 VON WALLFELD EXPRESS

ANDREAS Von Wallfeld is clearly a major player in Daimler’s global truck operations and recently jetted down under to Australia to visit one of the Daimler Truck empire’s most far flung, but important outposts and T&TA had the chance to sit down for a chat with the man in charge of the company’s export markets to get a handle on where where thing are headed at the world’s biggest truck maker.

32 KIWI MAGIC

Some superior feeling Aussies may consider us to be ahead of our Kiwi cousins from across the ‘Dutch’.

We are after all, the big brother with five times the population and supposedly five times the sophistication.

However there are many times when the All Black worshipping clan from the Shaky Isles make us look like a bunch of backward hicks from out of the West, as we found out when we travelled to Auckland to see a ground breaking hydrogen fuel cell truck trial.

38 HOLDING S-WAY

Iveco has launched its latest heavy duty flagship, the S-Way with a brief drive for Australian transport media at the Anglesea proving ground near Geelong. The S-Way is the truck Iveco hopes will rescue its fortunes in the Australian heavy duty truck market. We went along for a steer and to see if the new truck might be Iveco’s heavy duty saviour or a false start to the brand’s heavy duty revival in Australia.

44 MAN UP!

It is fair to say that the brand that causes the board of Traton the most headaches at the moment is its German subsidiary MAN. If you pour over the company results from Traton each year it is easy to see that MAN underperforms its Swedish sibling Scania, and even against the likes of Traton’s new US child, Navistar.

But having driven the latest flagship MAN TGX we reckon this truck could cure some of those headaches.

50 ROGER THAT!

It has been a rough few years on Australian roads, between the pandemic, fires, floods and other natural disasters. On the east coast, Queensland and New South Wales were hit particularly hard in 2022 with severe flooding and it impacted many families and many family-run businesses. One such business was Rogers Transport, currently based in the Brisbane suburb of Rocklea. We take a look at the family owned operation and how they have been navigating the road to recovery.

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56 LCV: HEIRLOOM DIAMOND

Mitsubishi’s ageing Triton is a conundrum. On one hand it represents excellent value and stands out from the other dual cab utes while delivering good performance and comfort, but on the other hand it is an ageing platform with some distinct handicaps compared with newer rivals. We climbed aboard the Triton GSR for a 2000km drive and tow test and found this ageing Diamond is still a valued heirloom of the ute market.

60 COMPANY CAR: ELECTRIC DREAM

Electric cars are the topic de jour it seems. Every second person we speak to says their next car will be electric, but price and supply appear to be the biggest hurdles standing in the way of many more people steering down the zero emission route. We take Hyundai’s superb Ionic 5 for a spin and find a car that is fabulous to drive and live with, if only we could easily secure one to buy.

Musings from the Editor

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06 HIGHWAY 1

News and info from all over

64 NEW PRODUCTS

Latest products on the market

JOB DONE COMMAND THE FUSO SHOGUN 510

GOVERNMENT ELECTRIC VEHICLE STRATEGY LACKS COMMERCIAL VISION

S

o finally the Australian Government has been dragged kicking and screaming into the present day and has been big enough to introduce a National Electric Vehicle Strategy, that will hopefully enable this country to at least try to make up ground on the other developed nations around the world.

Let’s face it we have lost 10 years, thanks to idealogues who wanted to continue to prosecute the climate wars and climate change denial. As a result Australia is now around a decade behind the rest of the world when it comes to a whole lot of emission challenges, most particularly with our vehicles.

However we have to say it was rather disappointing to have the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen launch the new Federal Strategy for electric vehicles, only for there be no mention of commercial vehicles in the main part of the statement.

There was a mention of hydrogen highways refuelling strategy, which was on page 63 of the 68 page main strategy, but nothing else.

The day after the strategy was announced and following criticism from the HVIA and from local manufacturer Volvo, which wants to assemble electric trucks here in the next few years, the government via a spokesperson for Transport Minister Catherine King told us that the strategy does not include heavy commercials over 3.5tonne.

Surely a document entitled the National Electric Vehicle Strategy by implication covers all vehicles nationally? It wasn’t called the National Electric Car Strategy or the National Electric Ute Strategy, it was the National Electric Vehicle Structure.

A spokesperson for the minister for transport, Catherine King, told us the Strategy focuses specifically on light passenger and commercial vehicles under 3.5 tons as they are the major source of road transport emissions.

This is despite the fact that we understood from figures, that although making up only about five per cent of the

004 www.truckandbus.net.au

national vehicle fleet, heavy commercial vehicles account for around 25 per cent of the nation’s vehicle emissions “The Strategy is a starting point to achieve net zero road transport emissions, giving us a national framework to coordinate across Australian governments and prioritise actions to decarbonise road transport over time,” the government spokesperson told us.

“Plans to further reduce emissions across transport, particularly in heavy vehicle, marine and aviation sectors, will be led by a net zero unit that been established in the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts,” they added.

The Government said it will continue to support the decarbonisation of heavy vehicles like the Team Global Express EV trial, claimed to be the largest trial of a heavy electric logistics fleet in Australia with ARENA, which has helped fund the trial, and investment into hydrogen highways program in NSW, which was mentioned briefly toward the end of the 68 page strategy document, and which it says is to help industry fleets acquire heavy hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and construct renewable hydrogen refuelling stations, located on major freight routes across Australia, starting with the Hume Highway.

The Government has indicated that it has adopted Australian Design Rule 80/04, which will phase in Euro VI noxious emissions standards for new heavy vehicles from 1st November 2024.

ADR 80/04 it says will help support the decarbonisation of the heavy vehicle sector by making it more viable for manufacturers to offer cleaner and more fuel-efficient engines available overseas.

The government has also indicated that ADR80/04 also provides a pathway for electric and hydrogen fuel cell to demonstrate compliance with noxious emissions standards, so they can legally operate at the same mass limits as new diesel trucks under the Heavy Vehicle National Law.

This last point is a contentious issue with some truck makers looking to bring in electric zero emission trucks, both BEV and FCEV Hydrogen vehicles, given in Europe and some other developed regions of the world, authorities have offered weight allowances for electric trucks to overcome the weight penalty they bring with them.

Given Australia has waited so long for a National Electric Vehicle Strategy then surely it could have looked at the entire vehicle market holistically, particularly given that heavy commercials account for such a large slice of the emissions that we are trying to curb.

We are sure that there will be all sorts of political duck shoving over this but the future of our planet, Australia’s competitiveness on the world stage and a clear path forward for zero emission trucks and buses is too important to play politics with.

Meantime in this issue we drive new trucks from Scania with the new Super line up, Iveco with its S-Way and we road test a Freightliner Cascadia 126 which answers those who doubt the Cascadia’s line haul 26 metre B Double credentials.

We travelled to NZ to take a look at Hyundai’s Xcient Hydrogen Fuel Cell truck which is being pressed into service with NZ Post and we test the latest MAN TGX. All that and a whole lot more in this issue of Transport & Trucking Australia, so we hope you enjoy the ride and the read.

JON THOMSON

RESPECT

TRUCK OF THE YEAR AUSTRALASIA FINALIST

A demanding business demands a powerful truck. And with 510hp at your command, there’s no ignoring the 13 Litre Shogun 510 – the most powerful Japanese HD truck in the land.

Since power belongs in safe hands, every Shogun comes with the world-leading safety features you’d expect from the Daimler Truck group. Add the peace of mind of a 5yr/500,000km warranty and the only stops you’ll be making are the ones you want.

FOR MORE ON THE FUSO SHOGUN 510 VISIT FUSO.COM.AU

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GOVT. REVEALS ELECTRIC VEHICLE STRATEGY / SEA NAMES

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dioxide, that a vehicle will produce

planning that consumers have

when it’s running.

been crying out for.

The government says that more

Transport is the third largest source

efficient vehicles will produce

of emissions in Australia. This

fewer emissions, meaning that the

strategy will help cut our emissions

environmental impact is lower, and

by at least 3 million tonnes of

that they are cheaper for motorists

carbon by 2030, and over 10

to run.

million tonnes to 2035.

The statement revealed that

Minister for Climate Change and

Australia and Russia are among

Energy Chris Bowen said Australian

the only developed countries

governments, car makers, motoring

that don’t have fuel efficiency

clubs, climate groups, businesses

standards.

and unions were all on board with

The statement from the office of

getting cleaner and cheaper cars

Minister Chris Bowen says that

to Australia

the absence of a standard has

“This strategy delivers on our

meant Australians households and

commitment to provide greater

businesses are missing out on

choice for Australians to drive cars

greater choice of vehicle models

that are cleaner and cheaper to

and are paying more in fuel costs

run,” Minister Bowen said.

to run their vehicles because

“This strategy provides the

manufacturers are prioritising

coordination and leadership to

sending more efficient vehicles to

drive down costs and improve

countries with standards in place.

infrastructure so that we get more

The statement says that on

affordable and accessible electric

average, new vehicles in Australia

vehicles on the market.

use 40 per cent more fuel than the

“The government has already cut

European Union, 20 per cent more

taxes on EVs through the Electric

than the United States, and 15 per

Car Discount, saving up to $11,000

cent more than New Zealand.

a year on a $50,000 electric

Previous analysis has shown

vehicle. Thanks to the Albanese

that the introduction of a fuel

Government’s leadership, two and

efficiency standard could save

half times more EVs are being sold

motorists $519 per year in fuel

this year than they were at this

costs according to the government

time last year.

statement.

“Fuel-efficient and electric

While the announcement

vehicles are cleaner and cheaper

mentioned the fact that passenger

to run – today’s announcement

cars make up almost 10 per cent

is a win-win for motorists.”

of Australia’s CO2 emissions, it

Minister for Infrastructure,

doesn’t mention anything about the

Transport, Regional Development

The Government said it will continue to support the decarbonisation of heavy vehicles like the Team

heavy pollution from commercial

and Local Government, Catherine

vehicles in Australia.

King said the government would

Fuel efficiency standards is

introduce fuel efficiency standards

Global Express EV trial, claimed

an important step to meet our

that work for Australia’s market.

to be the largest trial of a heavy electric logistics fleet in Australia with ARENA, which has helped fund

emissions reduction targets

“This strategy offers an historic

and the government said in

opportunity to develop fuel

the statement that they only

efficiency standards that learn from

the trial and investment into the

apply to new vehicles, and not

hydrogen highways program in NSW, that was mentioned briefly toward the end of the 68 page strategy document.

NEW PRES. / DAIMLER LA UNCHES RIZON / ZF’S NEW ELECTRIC DRIVELINE

CLEANER CARS ON THE AGENDA FOR ALBO GOVERNMENT BUT NO MENTION OF TRUCKS OR BUSES THE ALBANESE GOVERNMENT has released its initial National Electric Vehicle Strategy –Australia’s first strategy for cleaning up our vehicle fleet, however while it speaks extensively to the light vehicle fleet, it has no detail or reference to commercial vehicle efficiency.

greater use of cleaner, cheaperto-run vehicles and says that it is part of its strategy and has been developed following extensive public consultation.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Catherine King, the minister for transport, regional

vehicles under 3.5 tons as they are the major source of road transport emissions.

This is despite the fact that emission figures indicate, that despite making up only about five per cent of the national vehicle fleet, heavy commercial vehicles account for

emissions, giving us a national framework to coordinate across Australian governments and prioritise actions to decarbonise road transport over time,” the spokesperson told us.

“Plans to further reduce emissions across transport, particularly in heavy vehicle, marine and aviation

The government claims it is a comprehensive roadmap to ensure

development and local government, told us that the National Electric

around 25 per cent of the nation’s vehicle emissions

sectors, will be led by a net zero unit that been established in the

Australians have a better choice of electric vehicles, and encourage

Vehicle Strategy focuses specifically on light passenger and commercial

“The Strategy is a starting point to achieve net zero road transport

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts,”

ZERO EMISSION START UP SEA ELECTRIC HAS ANNOUNCED A REPLACEMENT FOR ITS PRESIDENT OF ASIA PACIFIC, BILL GILLESPIE, WHO RESIGNED FROM THE COMPANY EARLIER IN APRIL. SEA ELECTRIC has announced that former Irizar executive, Daniel Scarpino de Castro has signed on as its new president of Asia Pacific saying that he comes with with a wealth of executive-level experience, following roles within the automotive industry, including bus and coach manufacturing, transport electrification, and zero emissions solutions.

Having previously worked within Oceania, Southeast Asia, South America and the USA, Scarpino de Castro joins Sea Electric from the position of president of Irizar USA,

“As we have seen with the many major wins for Sea Electric in recent times, plus our existing portfolio of industry collaborations, people want to work with us, as we take the next steps adding fresh innovations to the electric transportation marketplace.”

Sea Electric says that Scarpino de Castro adds to the extensive talent pool already assembled at the company’s base in Melbourne.

“The EV segment is gaining genuine momentum in the Asia Pacific region, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome

a company focused on passenger transport and electromobility.

Daniel on board, with his extensive specialist knowledge of the sector, set to assist us in further growing the

He was also on the board of directors for Irizar Asia Pacific (Australia) since

business,” said Tony Fairweather, Sea Electric CEO and founder.

2013, and has an MBA from the Melbourne Business School.

“Globally, Sea Electric’s technology is gaining significant traction with

The company said that Scarpino de Castro, joining its team will allow him

leading OEMs and other major

international best practice, while

retrospectively, so consumers will

recognising the unique needs of

to further his work in the eMobility field.

still be able to choose they vehicle

Australians,” Minister King said.

they want to drive.

“It will send a strong message to

“It’s an honour to be joining the Sea Electric team, and play a part in

The statement says that Australia

the global car industry that when

taking the company to the next level

The government says initially it

also lags far behind other countries

it comes to transport technology,

will introduce a Fuel Efficiency Standard, working with industry and the community to finalise details in

in EV sales, with our uptake of EVs

Australia will no longer settle

around four times lower than the

for less.

throughout the Asia Pacific region,” said Scarpino de Castro.

“Sea Electric’s technology has an

global average.

“More than 85 percent of all

coming months.

The strategy also looks at reducing

cars sold in the world are subject

Fuel efficiency standards are standards which outline how much pollution, or specifically, carbon

barriers to electric vehicle uptake,

to fuel efficiency standards. It’s

whether it be demand, supply or infrastructure, which is the critical

they added.

006 www.truckandbus.net.au

SEA NAMES NEW PRESIDENT

enviable reputation throughout the industry, with its credentials leading

collaborations.

“In Australia, our locally assembled, electric trucks are showing what is possible in the zero-emissions logistics space, across a wide range of industries and application types.

“There are massive opportunities across the region, and with Daniel at the helm, the future is incredibly

time Australians were offered the

the way for what is possible in the space since the company was first

exciting for Sea Electric.”

Scarpino de Castro will commence in his new role effective on Monday

same choice.”

commercially launched in 2017.

24th April.

www.truckandbus.net.au 007

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LAUNCHES RIZON / ZF’S NEW ELECTRIC DRIVELINE

LOOKING TO THE E-RIZON - DAIMLER RENAMES FUSO ELECTRIC TRUCKS FOR THE US MARKET DAIMLER TRUCK North America has launched a new brand name for its Fuso battery electric trucks sold in the USA, revealing Rizon as the brand name at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, which starts this week in Anaheim, California.

The Rizon line of electric trucks are actually Fuso eCanter models which will be rebadged for sales in the US market, which will be sold exclusively through the Velocity Vehicle Group, which is a key dealer partner with Daimler in the US as well as here in Australia, where it purchased Daimler’s factory owned dealerships in 2021 as well as buying all of AHG’s

has chosen to launch an all new brand identity for trucks, that are sold globally under the Fuso name has not been revealed. Speculation as to why it withdrew Fuso at the time centred around the diminishing sales for the brand, particularly up against its Japanese rivals Hino and Isuzu.

Fuso sold less than 1500 trucks in the USA in 2019, the year before it was withdrawn, while Hino and Isuzu both moved around 10,000 trucks each in the same period.

It is believed that Daimler wanted a fresh start and opted for the Rizon name to underline that the new line up will be totally electric and would

seen Hino and Isuzu possibly build an unassailable lead in the light/medium electric truck market in North America.

Daimler already dominates the US Heavy Duty sector with its market leading Freightliner brand, as well as also owning the Western Star brand.

With US states like California requiring

“There’s a lot of drive towards locally emission-free vehicles and BEVs, and that’s the perfect opportunity here,” Deppen added.

Daimler already builds the mediumduty Freightliner eM2 106 as well as the Freightliner eCascadia prime mover, which is aimed at regional

50 per cent of all new commercial vehicles to be zero emission by 2032, truck manufacturers are having

distribution and port services with a range of up to 400km.

Depending on the battery variant the

to start adapting now. The U.S.

Fuso based Rizon trucks will offer

Environmental Protection Agency has also proposed sweeping emissions cuts for new cars and trucks between

a range of 120 km to 200 km and

now and 2032, a move the EPA said could mean two-thirds of new

the company said it would target customers involved in urban retail logistics, last-mile deliveries and municipal work.

Daimler Truck dealerships.

Daimler Truck withdrew its Fuso light/medium-duty trucks from

not carry any baggage from the poor showing of Fuso prior to its departure from the US market.

vehicles sold would be electric within a decade. Stricter rules for mediumduty vehicle are projected to cut

the U.S. market in 2020 following

The long anticipated shift to

emissions by 44 per cent by 2026.

the withdrawal of then distributor Mitsubishi Fuso Trucks America (MFTA), which handled the brand in

electric vehicles has started to gain momentum in the USA, thanks to the Biden Administration’s policy on

Daimler has announced that distribution of Rizon will start in the fourth quarter this year through an

and options suitable for unique

the USA up to 2020.

zero emission vehicles and Daimler, which is amongst the global leaders

exclusive agreement with the Velocity

The class 4 and 5 medium-duty

in commercial vehicle electrification, needs product in the US class 3 to 5

Vehicle Group.

Karl Deppen, head of Daimler Truck Asia, said purchase prices were

battery-electric vehicles, ranging from 7.2 tonne up to 8.5 tonne GVM,

categories to ensure Hino and Isuzu

falling for some vehicles that received

will have range up to 260km for the L variant which uses three battery packs

electric light/medium-duty truck line

don’t steal a march on it. If Daimler did

up. However exactly why Daimler

not re enter the market it could have

different grants and interest in battery electric vehicles was rising.

and up to 180km for the M variant with two battery packs on a single charge.

Daimler did run a test lease program in the USA with the Fuso eCanter in 2022 which is believed to have helped prove the viability of selling a battery

008 www.truckandbus.net.au

Rizon says it will initially offer three model variants the US with the e18L, e16L, and the e16M, saying that it will offer a mix of configurations requirements to optimise dayto-day operations and productivity.

The future is Super. And now it’s 8 % better.

While no one can say for sure what the future will bring, we’re confident that it’s a bright one. The new Scania Super powertrain is not only said to be the smoothest drive on the road, but also the most efficient we’ve ever built. It sets an entirely new industry standard in terms of powertrains and combustion engines, with a fuel saving of at least 8 %. Ready today to meet the challenges of tomorrow. A tomorrow that will be 8 % better.

The The new new Scania Scania Super Super powertrain, powertrain, with with the the combustion combustion engine engine as as its its centrepiece, centrepiece, will will deliver deliver aa fuel fuel saving saving of of at at least least 8 8% % compared compared to to Scania’s Scania’s current current 13 13ll engine engine (DLU).

(DLU).

The The comparison comparison is is made made for for long long distance distance operations. operations.

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ZF’S NEW ELECTRIC DRIVELINE AT HEART OF NEW ISUZU ELECTRICS

LAUNCHES RIZON / ZF’S NEW ELECTRIC DRIVELINE

TRUCK INDUSTRY ANNOYED AT LACK OF HEAVY COMMERCIAL DETAIL IN GOVERNMENT ELECTRIC VEHICLE STRATEGY together to change legislation that

The HVIA says that it is a position that

will allow these vehicles to operate here in Australia,” he added.

Merrick explained that the lack of

is unilaterally supported by industry associations, manufacturers, and all

political decisiveness on the issue is hindering investment decisions, and needlessly shackling Australia’s economy.

“The stakes are too high to ignore this issue any longer,” he said.

“I call on all levels of government to create a taskforce to deal with this LEADING TRUCK MANUFACTURER, Volvo has expressed dismay at the lack of a clear strategy for zero emission commercial vehicles in the Federal Government’s first National Electric Vehicle Strategy which was announced

as well charging networks, and a range of other issues, otherwise we will not be in a position to meet Volvo Group’s target of 30 per cent zero emission vehicles by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2040,” said the Volvo spokesperson.

by Minister Chris Bowen recently.

T&TA approached other truck

“It is very disappointing, particularly with

manufacturers for comment on the

the lack of clarity on vehicle weights and

Government national Electric Vehicle Strategy but Volvo was the only maker to respond.

standards with zero emission trucks,” the spokesperson said.

Backing this up, Volvo Group Australia

The lack of detail on heavy commercial vehicles in the strategy

president, Martin Merrick speaking

flies in the face of the fact that the national heavy vehicle fleet currently

at the launch of Australian Heavy Vehicle Industry Week in late April, provided crucial insights from

accounts for about four per cent of the total vehicle fleet, but are

the manufacturer’s perspective, emphasising his company will not

responsible for about 25 per cent of the transport emissions.

A spokesman for the Volvo Group told

meet its zero emission vehicle target in Australia if action is not taken by

us News that it was disappointing

the government.

“Volvo Trucks now have a full range of

that the National EV Strategy did not have any clear guidance for heavy commercial transport which needs

heavy-duty electric vehicles that we intend to launch in Australia this year, with a view to manufacturing these

some serious regulatory changes and

vehicles right here in Brisbane by

incentives to ensure targets for zero emission are met.

“The industry needs considerations

2027,” Martin Merrick said.

“However – let me be clear – these targets will not be met, unless we

on such things as front axle weights,

have all levels of government working

010 www.truckandbus.net.au

issue as a matter of urgency.

“This is not a Volvo problem; this is a zero-emissions future problem; this is an industry-wide problem,” the straight talking Volvo boss said.

The Brisbane based Heavy Vehicle Industry Association ( HVIA) also reacted strongly yesterday, backing up what the Volvo Group said, however the Truck Industry Council

suppliers to the road freight transport industry.

In its submission on the draft National Electric Vehicle strategy in 2022, HVIA said it highlighted the need for a review of heavy vehicle steer axle mass limits.

“Allowing heavier electric and hydrogen trucks is vital in opening up access to new low and zeroemissions heavy vehicles,” HVIA’s National Policy and Government Relations manager, Greg Forbes, said at the time.

HVIA’s chief technical officer, Adam Ritzinger, detailed the technical need for steer axle mass limits review and proposed four practical actions that can be implemented by regulators

THE COMMERCIAL Vehicle Solutions division of global transmission and

and the Americas. The production started in Friedrichshafen, using the

Systems with ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions division.

leveraged in-house developed components and wider eMobility

drive components company, ZF’ has announced that it has started

Groups competence coming from passenger car technology.

“Designed for silent, emission-free inner-city and ‘last mile’ freight

system synergies including sharing test benches in Friedrichshafen.

production of its new CeTrax lite electric central drive.

One of the first customers, is Japanese manufacturer and

delivery, CeTrax lite provides leading levels of performance and efficiency.

The CeTrax driveline has been designed for light commercial vehicles

ZF’s CVS division says it has used synergies from ZF’s development and

Australian truck market leader Isuzu, which has said it will install the drive

As such it represents an important new milestone in our ‘Next Generation

up to 7.5 Tons, and has a peak performance of 150 kW and a torque

production of passenger car electric drives to develop the new driveline

in its new ELF EV trucks, set to make their debut at the Tokyo Motor Show

Mobility’ strategy and reinforces our commitment to decarbonisation of the

of 1,500 Nm. The company says it has optimised compact design of the

and to adapt it for use in light commercial trucks.

in October this year.

“As an electric central drive, CeTrax

industry,” added Gründler.

ZF said that the new driveline would

CeTrax lite to help maximise space for electric components and batteries.

Designed as a highly integrated electric drive, ZF says CeTrax lite provides significant advantages for

lite allows our customers to electrify their existing vehicle platforms.

This proves our technical approach

provide a smart ‘turn-key’ solution to support the needs of light-duty commercial vehicles, saying that the

The company says that the module is a fully integrated system, housing the

manufacturers worldwide, particularly

and further demonstrates the trust

technology supports the architectures

electric motor as well as a singlespeed transmission stage and power

supporting emission-free urban and ‘last mile’ deliveries. The technology has already received orders from Asia

customers are placing in our electric solutions,” said Winfried Gründler, head of product line for Driveline

of conventionally fuelled vehicles as well as manufacturers’ electrification strategies. ZF added that it has

electronics. In addition to its enhanced flexibility, the system offers a lightweight design at around 120 kg.

build battery factories in the Unites States is a challenge because of the current U.S.-China political tensions.

The world’s biggest electric carmaker said in its paper on

per charge using nickel-based

vehicles, Model 3 and Model Y,

batteries. Tesla previously said it will also launch a 600-km range version.

The automaker said its proposed small electric passenger cars will

without giving a timeline.

Currently, Tesla uses nickel-based batteries for most of its Model 3

“Master Plan Part 3”released last

use LFP batteries with capacity of

phosphate (LFP) battery technology dominated by Chinese suppliers,

week that it will use LFP batteries for “short-range” heavy electric trucks, which it calls “Semi Light,”

53 kilowatt-hours (kWh), versus 75 kWh for Model Y and Model 3.

Tesla said last month that it will cut

without providing details, such asa launch date.

assembly costs by half in future generations of cars, which will

Last December Tesla started to

be built at its factories in Mexico and elsewhere, saying it will also

TESLA BRINGS IN THE BIG IRON

which purports to be the peak industry body for truck manufacturers has not made any public statements so far.

right now.

“We are on a path to becoming the highest emitting industry in Australia

The HVIA said in its statement

if nothing is done,” he said.

yesterday that the heavy vehicle industry’s position on the regulatory changes needed to support next-

He called on road managers such as state roads authorities and councils to urgently classify roads based on their

generation Zero-Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) is clear but needs urgent action

current structural capacity, leading to the development of networks that can

by the Government and its policy and regulatory agencies.

support the heavier axles of zeroemissions trucks.

“Current truck axle load limits are too low,” said HVIA chief executive,

“The only missing piece is the regulatory framework to support us.

Todd Hacking.

“If not addressed, they will completely strangle efforts to decarbonise

“HVIA urgently calls on government mass regulatory reform,” Hacking said.

saying in March, that the vast majority of the heavy lifting for

the industry, preventing it from

“The ongoing contribution of the industry to Australia’s economy and

electrification will be done by ironbased cells.”

emissions reduction targets is at stake,” he concluded.

However, having Chinese suppliers

contributing to Australia’s mandated emissions reductions targets,” Hacking said.

at all levels to accelerate truck axle

TESLA has said it plans to expand the use of cheaper, iron-based batteries to a version of its Semi heavy electric trucks as well as in an affordable electric vehicle.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has championed the lithium iron

deliver its Semi electric trucks with a claimed longer, 800km driving range

use LFP batteries in its mid-sized

and Model Y vehicles sold in the United States.

Musk and other LFP advocates cited the abundance and cheaper prices of iron as a key factor outweighing the drawbacks that have held back the adoption of LFP cells globally. They are bigger and heavier, and generally hold less energy than nickel-based cells, giving them a shorter range.

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ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND

VIEWS FROM ACROSS THE

GOVT. REVEALS ELECTRIC VEHICLE STRATEGY / SEA NAMES NEW PRES. / DAIMLE R

GLOBE

LAUNCHES RIZON / ZF’S NEW ELECTRIC DRIVELINE

UNPLUGGED - US TRUCK OPERATORS SHOW RETICENCE TO ELECTRIC TRUCK SWITCH

A SURVEY by a US truck website has found that more than three-quarters of US truck drivers indicated they would never add an electric truck to their fleet.

The survey conducted by Commercial Truck Trader, reveals that US truck

Close to 60 per cent said they were worried about the low range and battery life, while close to 50 per cent were concerned about the time it takes to charge a battery.

Around 45 per cent said they could see issues with finding a charging

than federal regulations, which will mean California will require half of all new heavy-duty vehicles sales to be electric by 2035, but so for many operators electric trucks may come sooner than many are currently comfortable with.

and Washington.

At the US federal level, the EPA implemented a final rule on 27 March that deals with heavy-duty truck emission standards, which increases the current standards by 80 per cent.

The program will begin with model

operators do not appear to be eager to purchase electric trucks, with 79

station, while only 11 per cent of those surveyed found no drawbacks

Under the California plan manufacturers who certify Class 2b

year 2027, which is the earliest year the new standards can be applied.

CHARGED AND READY.

per cent saying they would never add an electric vehicle to their fleet. Just

to electric trucks.

Some operators said they were

to 8 chassis or complete vehicles with combustion engines will be required

Congressman. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican submitted a joint

13 per cent of operators surveyed said that they would maybe add an electric truck, while just five per

waiting for others to become early adopters of electric trucks before pulling the trigger themselves. The

to sell zero-emission trucks as an increasing percentage of their annual California sales from 2024 to 2035.

resolution in opposition of the EPA’s final rule, while in February, Republican Senator. Deb Fischer,

The new eActros and eEconic.

cent said they will buy an electric

survey showed that about 30 per

By 2035, zero-emission truck/chassis

from Nebraska introduced a similar

truck straight away, while 4 per cent indicated they will buy electric within five years.

cent of those surveyed would feel differently if there were testimonials from current electric truck owners,

sales will have to account for 55 per cent of light duty Class 2b-3 truck sales, 75 per cent of medium- heavy

measure in the Senate, while the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association also has spoken out

More than 40 per cent of those surveyed said they would buy an

while more than 20 per cent said

Class 4-8 trucks, and 40 per cent of

against the EPA rule.

seeing other fleets with electric trucks would change their opinion.

The U.S. Environmental Protection

heavy prime mover sales.

Although California is the only state allowed to receive a waiver

“If small-business truck operators can’t afford the new, compliant trucks, they’re going to stay with

Agency on 31 March, granted

of preemption, other states can

older, less-efficient trucks or leave

permission for California’s stringent future Advanced Clean Trucks rule, giving the state approval for two waivers of preemption to install

potentially follow suit. From 11 April, six states also adopted California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule, including Massachusetts, New

the industry entirely, once again, the EPA has largely ignored the warnings and concerns raised by truckers in this latest rule,” OOIDA President Todd

emission standards that are stricter

Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont

Spencer said.

electric vehicle to save money at the fuel pump, while about 20 per cent said they would purchase an electric truck because they produce lower emissions. Around 30 per cent of those surveyed indicated they would buy an electric vehicle because they require less overall engine maintenance.

Overseas Overseas model model shown. shown. and and Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz are are trademarks trademarks of of Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz Group Group AG. AG.

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New Product

SCANIA HAS CLEARLY STATED THAT ITS NEW DOUBLE OVERHEAD CAM DIESEL ENGINES WILL BE THE LAST INTERNAL COMBUSTION TRUCK POWER PLANTS IT AND ITS PARENT COMPANY TRATON WILL DEVELOP BEFORE WE RUSH HEADLONG INTO THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF ZERO EMISSION. WE HAD THE CHANCE TO DRIVE BOTH THE ‘SUPERMARKET SPEC’ 460P AND THE LINE HAUL TUNED 560 R VERSIONS OF THE SWEDISH MAKER’S NEW MACHINES AND WE RECKON THEY WILL SELL AS MANY AS THEY CAN BRING IN.

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THE SCANIA SUPER IS A FURTHER REFINEMENT OF WHAT IS ALREADY ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE EUROPEAN PRIME MOVERS IN THE MARKET

A

s the sun rose on a clear Autumn morning, we eagerly prepared for the road test of two of Scania’s new Super models, both the 560 and its smaller counterpart, the 460. New trucks from a maker that is well known as a heavy-duty specialist and revered for its exceptional levels of performance and reliability.

We were keen to get behind the wheel and experience both of the new Scanias, particularly since the company has already stated quite plainly that this will be the last new internal combustion engine it will develop ahead of the long transition to zero emission trucks.

The new engines have been developed across the Traton family and are already being used in trucks from its US Navistar operation in International trucks, and

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will we imagine likely find their way into MAN models in due time.

The Scania Super is a further refinement of what is already one of the most impressive European prime movers in the market both with the smaller P cabin of the 460 and the larger R cab 560. It would be difficult to pick a Super from a previous model Scania at first glance, apart from the obvious badges.

The new trucks have the same sleek design, with subtle aerodynamic curves, which exude a sense of strength and sophistication.

We had been given the chance to drive both of the new Scania Super models back to back enabling us to assess two variants of the new twin overhead cam six cylinder diesel powerplant.

The new engine is only part of the

deal, along with the powerplant, the transmission and axles have been refined and matched, to foster even better performance from what is an impressive, powerful, low-revving, torquey unit that delivers fuel economy that is up to eight per cent better than similar power plants.

As we said the new Super engines are double-overhead-cam configuration and will be available in a number of variants from 420 to 560hp and delivering up to 2800Nm of torque.

But as mentioned the new iteration of Scania’s Opticruise AMT transmission along with axles that have been refined and re-engineered to lower engine revs to ensure the truck stays in best rev band for maximum torque while using minimal fuel.

We got to sample both the 460 P with a single semi trailer and the larger 560 R cab

model hauling a B Double rig. We drove both trucks up the demanding Calder Highway from Melbourne to Bendigo and back and in both instances we recorded strong fuel economy and impressive performance as well as a really noticeably quiet ambience in both trucks.

The 460 P with the smaller and lower height cab was specced in the sweet spot for logistics operations, or as some makers are referring to it, the ‘Linfox’ spec, the 13 litre Super engine was tuned for the less demanding needs of metropolitan and inter urban logistics operations with the 460 horsepower enough to give it strong performance hauling a single with a shade under 40 tonnes gross.

The larger 560 R is an impressive rig and proved that it can easily cope with the rigours of interstate line haul with low

fuel consumption aiding the argument for lower cost and lower fuel consumption engines in what sometimes can be an application that attracts a horsepower arms race when it doesn’t need to.

The R cab is the top of the range and ideally suited for interstate line-haul work, with plenty of room for the driver to grab some shut eye and to store gear while on the road.

The Super 560 was grossing around 60 tonnes with its B Double set.

The first thing that you notice when cruising on the highway with the Super 560 R is its quietness. The new engines and the revised cab insulation means that the power plant is a distant hum, not an obtrusive rumble as it often is with many trucks.

Both trucks tackled the climbs up the ranges to Bendigo with relative ease,

powering along and aided by the even faster shifts of the revised Opticruise.

Our drive came just a few days after the trucks completed a major customer and dealer launch event at the Anglesea proving ground south of Melbourne, where Scania showed the trucks to customers, who apparently are super keen on the new truck. In fact Scania has been taking orders for the new truck since last March and demand has not surprisingly been strengthened by the launch event.

Fuel economy was outstanding on both with the 460 returning just shy of three km/litre and the 560 close to 2.3 km/litre, which given the terrain was absolutely outstanding.

The return leg, ‘downhill’ to Melbourne again showed the benefit of the outstanding and renown Scania retarder

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THE CASCADIA IS A TRUCK YOU CAN RELY ON, IN JUST ABOUT

ANY APPLICATION OR CONDITION” PETER CLIFFORD, C L IF F OR D B R IC K A ND T IL E

which has been boosted further with the addition of Scania’s new Compression Release Brake (CRB), which is a separate system from the retarder, working independently and which has been able to be developed because of the new double overhead cam architecture of the engine.

There is, we are told, nothing that has been carried-over from the previous engines with everything being redesigned from the injectors to the fuel pump, to the crank, and of course the twin cam design.

With the engine rumbling to life, we set off onto the open road. The Scania 560 Super effortlessly glided through the gears, and we were impressed by the smoothness of the transmission. The acceleration was brisk, and you could feel the quiet fuss free and smooth torque of the 560 engine as it effortlessly propelled the truck forward.

As we powered up the highway, we were blown away by the Scania 560 Super’s handling and stability. Despite its size and weight, the truck felt remarkably agile and responsive. The advanced suspension

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system soaked up bumps and potholes with ease, providing a comfortable ride even on rough roads.

One of the standout features of the Scania 560 Super was its cutting-edge safety technology. The truck was equipped with a host of advanced safety features, including adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and collision mitigation system, which kept me confident and secure throughout the journey.

As we tackled the various terrains, including the steep climbs, the Scania Super’s effortlessly conquered them all.

The engine’s power was always readily available, and the transmission shifted smoothly to keep the truck in the optimal gear for maximum performance.

One of the most impressive aspects of the Scania 560 Super was its fuel efficiency. Despite its powerful engine, the truck delivered excellent fuel economy, which was surprising for a vehicle of its size and power.

As the road test came to an end, we were

thoroughly impressed with the Scania 560 Super. Its new engine, advanced safety features, superior handling, and excellent fuel efficiency made it a top contender in the heavy-duty truck segment.

The Scania 560 Super had truly lived up to its reputation as a reliable and highperformance truck that was a pleasure to drive.

In conclusion, the road test of the Scania Supers was a memorable experience. Both trucks exceeded expectations in terms of performance, safety, and fuel efficiency.

Driving the new Scania’s was a great experience, and it left us with a deep appreciation for the engineering prowess and innovation that went into creating Scania’s last internal combustion engine and the trucks to wrap those in.

Supply will be Scania’s biggest challenge with these new trucks but we feel sure they will be a huge hit in this market if they can secure enough to satisfy demand.

We hope to have a longer drive of the new Super range in the near future.

FIND OUT MORE, VISIT FREIGHTLINER.COM.AU OR SCAN QR CODE

Road Test

THE TRUCK BUSINESS IS ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS. TONNAGE, LENGTH, NUMBER OF PALLETS, HORSEPOWER AND TORQUE RATINGS, SIZE OF THE SLEEPER, BUMPER TO BACK OF CAB DIMENSIONS, DIFF RATIOS, THE NUMBERS GO ON AND ON. ALL OF THOSE NUMBERS ARE NOTHING NEW, BUT THEY GAINED ADDED RELEVANCE RECENTLY WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE TO DO A ROAD TEST IN A FREIGHTLINER CASCADIA 126 CONFIGURED FOR 34 PALLETS USING A B DOUBLE SET UP. SEE WHAT WE MEAN? NUMBERS, NUMBERS EVERYWHERE BUT WHAT DO THEY ALL MEAN?

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F

reightliner in Australia had hoped to be selling more of its Cascadias since it launched America’s top selling heavy duty truck here in 2019. However the ravages of Covid, the supply chain issues that have beset the planet, and a misguided belief by many that the Cascadia did not measure up well for B Double operations having all seemingly conspired against it so far.

The consequence of all that is that is that the numbers ( there’s that word again) have been modest when it comes to Cascadia sales volume and market share, and while most of this can be attributed to the trickle of trucks available to Stephen Downes and his team at Daimler Trucks Australia, there is no escaping the situation that there has been some market resistance.

Part of that can be sheeted home to some residual reputation from some bad early Argosy publicity ( you only get one chance to make a first impression), and part of it is that belief amongst some that the dimensions are wrong for a B Double line haul operation.

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The Argosy backwash was so long ago and so misplaced today that it astounds us that it still gets mentioned, while the dimension situation is also not valid either, which was why we had the chance for a reasonable drive in a Cascadia with a 26 metre 34 pallet B Double.

The truck we were set to drive was a big banger 16 litre 600hp Cascadia 126 model with a 36 inch sleeper cab. It can also be specced with a 48 inch or a 60 inch sleeper, but for this exercise with the purpose of proving that the spec will work with a 34 pallet set up, the 36 inch not only worked but provided plenty of room.

The task we had was to pilot the Cascadia along with Daimler engineer, Darryl Fourter, from Daimler Trucks dealership, Velocity Truck Centre in Laverton on the western outskirts of Melbourne to Mildura. Heading west up the stern climbs to Ballarat and then through the quaintly named Pyrenees region of Central Victoria and then up through the Wimmera to Mildura was our planned route.

It was a typical hot and sunny early Autumn day in Western Victoria as we pounded the highways on the way to our goal in the capital of Sunraysia.

A few weeks after completing the drive, in fact the day before this story was written, a discussion point came up on ABC Local Radio about the imminent death of manual transmissions in cars but equally in trucks. It made us cast our minds back a couple of weeks to the Cascadia drive and the pleasure of the DT12 AMT gearbox, which had made our drive to Mildura so effortless and easy.

When drivers tell us they prefer a manual we usually ask them if they have driven the latest crop of AMTs, like the DT12. Most who prefer shifting themselves haven’t driven trucks with AMTs, if they have the opinion usually changes pretty quick.

In this instance the departure from Laverton again proved the benefits and the ease of operating with the AMT. It shifts quickly, allows strong acceleration in traffic and enables the driver to concentrate of steering the truck and

avoiding the kamikaze car pilots and tradies in their overloaded utes.

Before that however, we re-familiarised ourselves with the Cascadia and its key points. It had been about two years, in the midst of the first stanza of the pandemic, since we drove a Cascadia 126 from Sydney to Murwillumbah, just short of the closed Queensland border.

We enjoyed that drive immensely and it again reinforced the efforts Daimler had gone to in Australia with the testing and development of the Cascadia for local conditions. In fact they claim to have spent around $100 million on the development program for our conditions, and that is noticeable when you steer a Cascadia. It is a long way from those early Argosy models.

Climbing aboard the Cascadia 126, as we mentioned and as you can see from the photos, it was not difficult to know that this truck was a 126, and that it had the 36” sleeper as well as a 34 pallet B Double set up. Those numbers were there for the world to see, clearly to press the point with

other truck operators along the highways this truck would be traversing.

Interestingly, despite the relatively low numbers that have been popping up against Freightliner in the TIC truck sales figures each month, anecdotally at least, we have to say that we are starting to see a lot more Cascadia’s on the main interstate routes. We are not sure if this is because the Cascadia’s distinctive aero shaped ‘conventional bonneted’ styling stands out particularly or what, but if, as has been the case, that they’ve been selling around 40 a month for the past 40 months then there should be around 1500 or so Cascadia’s on our roads, which probably explains why we are seeing so many of them.

Climbing up into the cab has a degree of familiarity about it, for despite the fact that the Cascadia was very definitely designed and engineered in the US, there is more than a touch of family resemblance with the cab of its sibling Mercedes Actros.

The new digital-dash version in the Freightliner we were testing looked a lot like

the one we had driven in an Actros recently.

The dash has a 12.3-inch screen with a digital tacho and speedo as well as other ancillary gauges, trip data and adaptive cruise control information. However the new digital dash is an option on the Cascadia, which would normally come with the standard analogue dash. Given the choice we would go with the digital version because of the great design and ease of use as well as the added information that can be accessed by the driver.

Across to the left of the main dash is the centrally mounted 10-inch infotainment touchscreen which gives the driver easy access to a plethora of information and settings, including nav, audio, with Carplay and Android Auto interface and good old terrestrial radio.

As we mentioned, everything is easy to operate and use along with all the switchgear, which includes two banks of switches for such things as the diff locks, lane departure warning switch as well as cabin lighting etc..

The air-conditioning and heating

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controls are to the left and are operated by conventional dials.

Controls for Cruise Control, scrolling through the various info screens and audio controls can be accessed on the toggle switches on the steering wheel as well as through the screen controls, just like it is on the Actros. It is logical, particularly for fleets that may only buy Daimler product, delivering a degree of familiarity between the various Daimler brands, allowing drivers to more quickly adapt.

The cab with its flat floor between the two Isri suspension seats for driver and passenger, enables easy movement around the interior and access to the sleeper bunk.

Not surprisingly for a truck from the Daimler family, the Cascadia has an impressive array of safety features and technologies. The list includes standard ABS, ESP, seatbelt pretensioners, radar adaptive cruise control, and autonomous emergency braking, to avoid or reduce the impact of collisions.

Once out on the Western Motorway heading toward Ballarat the ride in the Cascadia was smooth and comfortable and tracked well on the at time bumpy and badly maintained tarmac. The Cascadia’s rear airbag suspension and its taper leaf front springs delivered across all the road conditions while the typical accurate and precise Daimler steering allowed for an easy and comfortable drive , whether on the motorway or the narrow bitumen as we headed north-west into the Wimmera.

With 60 tonnes on board as our gross weight the DD16

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powered us along nicely and the generally easy flow, good gearing and final drive and the aero shape of the Cascadia meant that fuel economy was also excellent with the numbers indicating an average of 1.87 km /litre on the run to Mildura.

While we admit we did not use the sleeper for shut eye for the evening in Mildura, choosing instead to take a bed in a hotel for the night, the sleeper bed looked very comfortable and one of our colleagues who did sleep in it for the night reckoned it was extremely comfy and easy to sleep in. Certainly the flat floor of the cab makes the whole sleeping experience a lot easier, given you can easily stand and change into your ‘jarmies’ and equally to get ready for the day’s drive ahead. There appears to be plenty of storage space and nooks to safely stow things and be able to easily access the next day.

By the time we reached Mildura mid-afternoon we felt like we could have continued on perhaps on down to Adelaide or turned right across the Murray and headed East to Sydney across the Hay Plain, such was the level of ease and comfort in the Cascadia after 540 km of driving. We could easily have knocked out another 1000km without raising a sweat.

So for all those numbers, we did establish that the Freightliner Cascadia 126 16 litre 600hp prime mover can easily cope with a 26 metre B Double with 34 pallets and its 36 “ sleeper will provide a great night’s rest. The numbers clearly all add up particularly when you take into consideration the fuel consumption.

We’re on Emission Emission At Volvo Trucks, environmental care has long been central to our vision of the future.

At Volvo Trucks, environmental care has long been central to our vision of the future.

We care passionately about the world we live in, and as the shift towards electric vehicles We care passionately about the world we live in, and as the shift towards electric vehicles gathers pace, we are more committed than ever to driving progress. gathers pace, we are more committed than ever to driving progress.

We are thrilled to have launched our all-electric medium duty truck range We are thrilled to have launched our all-electric medium duty truck range for Australian transport operators.

for Australian transport operators.

The new Volvo FL and FE Electric medium duty range meet the demand from society and customers The new Volvo Electric medium duty meettothe demand transportation, from society and for dramatic cutsFL in and CO2FE emissions.

To simplify therange transition sustainable thecustomers trucks are for dramatic cuts in CO2 emissions.

To simplify the transition to sustainable transportation, offered together with service and support packages for electromobility needs. the trucks are offered together with service and support packages for electromobility needs.

Come and visit us at the Brisbane Truck Show Stand #49, Hall 3 between 18 - 21st May Comeand andlearn visit how us atwe thecan Brisbane Show Stand #49, Hall 18 - 21st May partnerTruck with you in your transition to 3anbetween electric future. and learn how we can partner with you in your transition to an electric future.

Learn more by visiting www.volvotrucks.com.au/electrictrucks.

Learn more by visiting www.volvotrucks.com.au/electrictrucks.

Volvo Trucks. Driving Progress Volvo Trucks. Driving Progress

Operator

VON WALLFELD EXPRESS

ANDREAS VON WALLFELD IS CLEARLY A MAJOR PLAYER IN DAIMLER’S GLOBAL TRUCK OPERATIONS AND RECENTLY JETTED DOWN UNDER TO AUSTRALIA TO VISIT ONE OF THE DAIMLER TRUCK EMPIRE’S MOST FAR FLUNG, BUT IMPORTANT OUTPOSTS AND T&TA HAD THE CHANCE TO SIT DOWN FOR A CHAT WITH THE MAN IN CHARGE OF THE COMPANY’S EXPORT MARKETS TO GET A HANDLE ON WHERE WHERE THING ARE HEADED AT THE WORLD’S BIGGEST TRUCK MAKER.

A

ndreas Von Wallfeld is a Daimler lifer. He started at the venerable and storied corporation straight out of university in 1998, where he had successfully studied for an MBA. Almost a quarter century later, in January last year, Von Wallfeld was appointed head of Daimler Truck and Bus, Overseas, meaning he is in charge of everything to do with Daimler Truck outside Europe. It is a fairly big brief, given he now oversees 120 markets across the three Daimler brands, with combined sales of 70,000 trucks a year, into total markets of around three billion people, generating revenue of between three and four billion euros each year.

Andreas Von Wallfeld is a straight shooting, no-nonsense bloke and like many successful international business executives he is somehow able to present an air of sharpness and freshness, even after a whirlwind trip across several Australian cities, visits to major customers and dealerships and many flights, not the least being a long one from Germany just a few days before.

When he arrives at Goldstar Transport in Perth, Von Wallfeld looks like he just

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ONE OF VON WALLFELD’S TASKS IN PERTH WAS TO HAND OVER THAT FIRST WA eCANTER AND WE TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK HIM ABOUT THE CHALLENGES FACING THE WORLD’S BIGGEST TRUCK MAKER WHEN IT COMES TO THE MOVE TO A ZERO-EMISSION ‘TRUCK-A-SPHERE’

stepped out of a Hugo Boss catalogue.

Uncrumpled, unruffled and with a beaming smile, his relaxed easy manner belies the fact that he has been inside aircraft for 36 of the past 72 hours.

“I was really looking forward to the trip, because Australia is one of our biggest markets that we have for Daimler Truck overseas, and it’s great for me because I’ve only been in the job for 11 months,” said Von Wallfeld.

Von Wallfeld says Australia is a little different to other markets because it’s one of only four Daimler markets where it sells all three brands – Mercedes, Freightliner and Fuso, not to mention Western Star, which of course is sold through independent distributor, Penske’s channels.

T&TA met up with Von Wallfeld in Perth, at the tail end of his three-day Australian mission, and witnessed his interaction with some key customers, including the handover of the first Fuso eCanter to be delivered to a WA customer, Goldstar Transport. His ability

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to communicate with customers was on display in plain sight and he showed an easy and comfortable manner that puts people at ease.

“It’s amazing for me because I’ve never talked to customers like Goldstar and Centurion and others that operate trucks from all three brands, and to see which application they use each of the brands for, is very interesting to me,” he said.

As mentioned, one of Von Wallfeld’s tasks in Perth was to hand over that first WA eCanter and we took the opportunity to ask him about the challenges facing the World’s biggest truck maker when it comes to the move to a zero-emission ‘truck-a-sphere’.

“I think the biggest challenge is for us to find the sweet spot, to be on the cutting edge of technology, but also to make it pay off on the bottom line. I think this is important, because you can already be in the electric truck market now with a broad range of trucks, but you may be out of business if you put too many eggs in that

basket,” he explained.

“On the other hand, If you are not launching your first electric truck until 2030, then of course you’ll be too late and you may also be out of business.

“It’s tough to find the sweet spot about when you introduce zero emission and when customers and the markets are ready. I think this is the challenge for us,” Von Wallfeld said.

“It’s not only about the sweet spot of electric, it’s also about the sweet spots for a range of new technology and also about when ICE powered trucks are overtaken,” he said.

“Are you the first, are you the last? At what time can you make money, and of course building the infra-structure to enable electric and also hydrogen fuel cell.

I think it’s an amazing challenge.

“You only have x amount of euros to invest, and over time you maybe invest some over here and some more over there, but then a new technology comes along and things change. Just imagine the price and

performance of batteries and how much they can came down, whether that accelerates or not, or perhaps how quickly fuel cells are developed, any of those could change everything we are planning today,” he said.

“Of course we also have a bunch of new players, from the United States, some from China, some from Korea and so on, and they might come up with new batteries, with new fuel cell technology etc., so I think this is also very interesting.

“I would say nobody would have overtaken Daimler with diesel engines, with Euro seven or Euro six. technologies because we are so advanced and I don’t think a startup could match us, but you know, it’s a new game now, for instance you hear that a hair dryer company wants to build cars,” he said, referring to the mooted, but now shelved plans by consumer electric company, Dyson.

“Their mindset is, oh, we have electric technology and they think now’s the chance to get these established guys, and to beat them, but that means we need to

be very attentive to new market trends,” he added.

Von Wallfeld says he can sense that amongst the big established OEM truck manufacturers, that they’re all feeling the weight of the necessary investment, even though they’ve probably cut back a lot of R&D on internal combustion to focus on zero emission.

Volvo’s decision to invest in the Cellcentric fuel cell joint venture with Daimler, was the best message for the future Von Wallfeld said he felt when he heard about it.

“It was the best message for me, because we have been doing fuel cell development for 20 or 30 years, and we have invested so much, so you wonder when does this pay off, and how far advanced are we really. Then you hear about the fuel cells from Hyundai and from Chinese makers, and then Volvo comes in and invests 650 plus million euros, along with also some hundreds of millions more on top, making it close to a billion euro investment , and

it makes you realise it must be worth it,” Von Wallfeld said with a smile.

Sitting in on the interview, Daimler Trucks Australia boss, Daniel Whitehead added an interesting side note about the headlong race to new tech.’

“I believe the really interesting thing is that even with all the talk about zero emission, that even if we’re hugely successful in the new technology in the next five years, 95 per cent of our sales will still be internal combustion engine vehicles,” Whitehead said.

“So there is this interesting dual path of doing both, advancing the five per cent forward takes so much of your attention, but it will still be that 95 per cent of internal combustion trucks that is actually going to pay the bills for most of that period of time,” Whitehead added.

Herr Von Wallfeld agrees that this is also a danger for a major player like Daimler, because it still has to make the money that is needed to invest in the new technology of the future.

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“If you look to Tesla, if you look to Nikola, or if you look to the Chinese players that are supported very heavily by government, you know, it’s a danger that they might fight with different weapons,” Von Wallfeld said.

“However, I’m also confident that we should be able to have the advantage as a long-established manufacturer that continues to generate revenue, while startups have to draw down on capital their investors put in. and at some point, if the success doesn’t come quickly enough, there’s going to be a call on those investments,” he added.

“We always talk about disruption, because of course, the new alternative zero emission drive train vehicles, disrupt our business, but what we shouldn’t forget is we have many disruptions.

“Right now we have zero emission, we have connectivity, we have autonomous driving, I mean, if you miss one of these trends, you’re out of business, and there has never been so many disrupting factors than in the trucking industry today.

In regard to autonomous technology, Von Wallfeld said it will take longer than many first thought and that zero emission will be much earlier.

“We are talking zero emission this decade, but I think autonomous, we are probably talking next decade, we’ll see,” he said.

“But I had a very interesting conversation with one of the biggest fleets in Europe, a fleet of 8000 units, and the operator told me he doesn’t care what we provide him, whether it’s electric, whether it’s diesel, whether it’s fuel cell, but simply said, it must work,” Von Wallfeld related.

“But that operator also told me the real change will come with autonomous because if you don’t have drivers you could cut out 30 per cent of your cost right away,” he said.

“Autonomous offers all sorts of opportunities for instance perhaps the truck needs to be serviced, it could be programmed to take itself to the dealership between 2am and 3am and then comes back. That same customer told me, zero emission is fine but it is not as big as autonomous and the effect that will have on the industry in terms of cost,” he added.

Von Wallfeld told us what he believes makes the Daimler truck organisation special globally, is its breadth and multibrand approach.

“As I said earlier, when I come to Australia I talk to customers that have

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all three brands, and I’ve never had conversations like that in Europe. If you look at the breadth of the products we produce as a company, then we start from Euro Zero and go all the way to Euro Six, we have left hand drive, and right hand drive, we have CKD, SKD, CBU markets, meaning in many countries we manufacture, while in some countries we just put parts together, in other markets you might have only Euro Three legislation, but customers already drive Euro Five, and there’s a big need for electric and for zero emission,” Von Wallfeld said.

“In some of those lower spec markets the customers are calling the legislator and saying hey, why don’t you bring us to Euro Five? However in Europe, it’s completely different, because there the legislator tells us we have to be Euro Seven by 2027,” Von Wallfeld said.

“And that’s also a good point of discussion around Euro Seven, because some are asking whether we should introduce Euro Seven in Europe at all, because of course, there’s so much investment that could be put directly into fuel cell or into electric,” he added.

“The change in investments and thinking for that is massive, because for years, it’s always been the next development with ICE. You develop Euro six, but your investment in Euro two is still there and still functional.

“Now you’ve got much bigger demands on the dollars and the ideas of where you spend them, there’s just so many more things that haven’t been in existence over the past 100 years when it’s been about optimisation of a technology. That’s now changed incredibly with companies having to still sell internal combustion but to spend massively on forward technologies,” he added.

“It’s about finding that sweet spot, figuring out when do you cut off the technology in internal combustion, because on the other hand the established technology needs to bring in the money to enable the future investments, if you cut it off too early you may find yourself stranded,” he said.

“So it’s a constant compromise between how long we keep the diesels on, and what do we invest in diesel instead of putting the money into zero mission or whatever.”

“I hope that our legislators make a decision not to go into Euro Seven, and maybe raise the bar for electric, I think that would make so much more sense,

because in many markets, they are driving Euro Three so they are polluting the environment in markets that represent three billion people, so 40 per cent of the world’s population.

“So if you jump from Euro Two or Three into Euro Five in those markets, you will probably have a much better and more significant improvement than if you jump from Euro Six to Euro Seven in Europe, which costs a lot of money and will not have as big an effect as moving to zero emission.

“I think if I’m not wrong, the CO2 benefit effect of going from Euro Six to Euro Seven is maybe two or three per cent, so not it’s not a lot,” Von Wallfeld added.

The German Daimler executive says that the restrictions that the global supply chain have imposed on the industry make things difficult, but that there are a lot of things to be positive about.

“We have been restricted in volume, and we have increased prices, so we have as many bad issues as you could possibly have, a lot of which could generate trouble with customers, and could cause problems with profitability, but it’s not playing out that way,” said Von Wallfeld.

“I’ve seen a lot of customers, who say, hey we really value that you are talking to us now and that they also know our difficulties. They don’t appreciate the price increases, but they understand, because they also read the newspaper, and at the same time, they also make a reasonable profit from there trucks, so they don’t blame us,” he said.

Daniel Whitehead says that from his perspective there is an understanding of the global headwinds among customers.

“You know in Australia, as a country that is a major exporter of iron ore, the customers know that if iron ore has been selling for $120 a tonne instead of $40 a tonne , that when it comes back as a truck it’s got to be more expensive,” said Whitehead.

With that Herr Von Wallfeld has to move on to another appointment before having his first steer of a classic Australian road train, a move that will surely enable him to understand the unique challenges Australian transport operators have to face. If Von Wallfeld’s obvious ability to listen and communicate with customers and dealers is anything to go by he will have taken a lot of knowledge about the Australian market back to Stuttgart with him.

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New Technology

SOME SUPERIOR FEELING AUSSIES MAY CONSIDER US TO BE AHEAD OF OUR KIWI COUSINS FROM ACROSS THE ‘DUTCH’. WE ARE AFTER ALL, THE BIG BROTHER WITH FIVE TIMES THE POPULATION AND SUPPOSEDLY FIVE TIMES THE SOPHISTICATION. HOWEVER THERE ARE MANY TIMES WHEN THE ALL BLACK WORSHIPPING CLAN FROM THE SHAKY ISLES MAKE US LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF BACKWARD HICKS FROM OUT OF THE WEST, AS WE FOUND OUT WHEN WE TRAVELLED TO AUCKLAND TO SEE A GROUND BREAKING HYDROGEN FUEL CELL TRUCK TRIAL.

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he Kiwis do have a habit of showing us Aussies up, and that notion certainly came into our thoughts when we flew across to Auckland and visited Hyundai New Zealand late in 2022. That’s right Hyundai, you know them, they’re the mob who make a range of increasingly impressive automobiles, that are about as far removed from those early 1990s $12999, drive away Excels as Earth is from Jupiter.

But it’s a car company right? Well it is here in OZ, apart from the fact that a very small number of Hyundai light, medium and heavy duty diesel trucks having been sold here for the past decade. But the reality is Hyundai trucks are a big deal in the Korean home market and others around the globe.

There has seemed to be a lack of will, resources and commitment from the local independent distributor for Hyundai trucks that has held back sales here in Australia, although again if you cast your eyes across the Tasman, you will see that Hyundai NZ, which is also an independent distributor, doesn’t seem to have too many issues pushing the brand’s commercial vehicles out to the market.

So there we were in Kiwiland to take a look at something so advanced, that we don’t even have them running in Australia yet, and probably won’t for some time.

The advanced concept we speak about is hydrogen fuel cell powered trucks. In fact Hyundai was the first manufacturer in the world to launch series production hydrogen powered trucks. The Hyundai zero emission heavy duty rigids have been running on roads in Switzerland since early 2020.

With Hyundai delivering its first 47 hydrogen fuel cell Xcient Heavy Duty trucks to customers in Switzerland almost three years ago, you start to understand why one of the senior boffins at the Daimler-Volvo hydrogen joint venture, Cellcentric in Germany, when asked who its strongest opponents are likely to be in the FCEV sphere, immediately indicated that it would have to be a ‘large Korean manufacturer’. Remember that by the time Daimler and Volvo launch their first series production FCEVs around 2028, Hyundai will have had hydrogen trucks on the road for around eight years.

Hyundai chose Switzerland for its pilot program and step off point for its FCEV truck concepts, on the basis of the friendly regulations, environmentally conscious customers and reliable green electricity, generated by hydro electric plants,

which account for 58 per cent of the Switzerland’s power mix.

As well as that, Switzerland’s local road tax is waived for no-carbon vehicles while fossil fuel vehicles pay around $AUD1200 (€800) for each tonne of CO2 they emit.

The Korean truck manufacturer says it plans to produce 2,000 FCEV Hydrogen trucks this year, for customers in Europe and China. At the same time it reaffirmed plans to take the truck eventually to the massive North American market, where ‘Hyundai’ is a very well-known and respected brand.

In New Zealand when we visited late last year, Hyundai NZ had two Xcient heavy duty rigid fuel cell trucks in its workshop being prepared for duty in a trial with NZ Post, the government owned mail service, just like our Australia Post.

Unlike our Kiwi counterparts across the ‘Dutch’, here in Australia, we consider ourselves advanced but on occasions we can be so bound up with arcane rules that impose barriers to safety and efficiency gains, that the more practical and pragmatic Kiwis avoid. For instance our truck width rules, which all but preclude the latest and most advanced trucks from Europe and North America from hitting our roads without major modifications and delays.

Speaking with Hyundai NZ’s head of Hydrogen and Eco commercial vehicles, Grant Doull, you realise at least one of the reasons the company has hydrogen trucks hitting the road there, while we have potentially years to wait.

“New Zealand regulators accept a variety of compliance regulations from around the world. So ADR, ECE, Japanese standard etc and what that means is that as long as you’ve got one of those global standards, it meets entry compliance for NZ,” said Doull.

Given the Hyundai hydrogen powered Xcient was already complied and on the road in Switzerland, it meant that it was compliant for New Zealand “New Zealand is also already very, very committed to doing something about climate change over here, so that’s been a substantial driver,” said Grant Doull.

NZ is also signed up and committed to having 30 per cent of all medium and heavy duty vehicles zero emission by 2030. So they’re well underway, and coupled with the fact that on a good day NZ is generating around 85 per cent renewable energy. There’s also a lot of renewable projects coming on stream in the next two years, so it should push that

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figure closer to 90 per cent renewables.

“It also means NZ has a great base for using green hydrogen for fuel,” Doull added.

The Hiringa Hydrogen network is well underway, with the Taranaki based organisation, establishing a major hydrogen refuelling network in NZ. It has about $NZD50 million invested in establishing the network, with the first four stations set to come on line in about the next 12 months. The NZ Government is one of the key investors in that project In fact Hiringa has an ambitious program that aims to establish a green hydrogen production and refueling network across New Zealand focused on the heavy transport sector.

The first four stations are due to be operational later this year (2023), located in Hamilton, Palmerston North, Auckland and Tauranga, providing coverage for the nation’s key heavy freight routes in the North Island.

Another 20 stations across the North and South Islands are planned to be operational by 2026, while the network also provides an affordable and reliable source of hydrogen for multiple

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applications including aviation, shipping, construction and earthmoving equipment, materials handling, as well as stationary heat and power. All of that is going to provide a pretty substantial support for hydrogen fuel powered trucks and buses in NZ. So that gets NZ going on its hydrogen journey in heavy transport, given there will be places to refuel clean hydrogen trucks, while at the high capacity stations, they will also be doing electrolysing on site. In other words producing the green hydrogen on site, and doing that means you avoid other things like transport costs, storage costs, which keeps the overall fuel cost lower.

Doull believes that a whole lot of things have lined up at once, with government support, rolling out of a fuel network, and a lot of major customers keen for zero emission solutions for their fleets. Unlike Australia, New Zealand has some very specific axle weight and GVM challenges which probably makes the added weight of the big bank of batteries needed for a heavy duty BEV powered trucks a challenge in NZ for heavier loads and longer routes.

So hydrogen is firming as an ideal technology for heavy duty transport in NZ , given all those reasons. Another reason is hydrogen refueling times are similar to those of a diesel. But above all the ability for a hydrogen truck to be used almost continuously for high productivity and not have to wait around for charging is a major plus.

BEV trucks will have a place in New Zealand and Hyundai has light duty BEV powered trucks coming to market there for operation in urban areas (As Hyundai Australia has also announced it will do), but in the heavy realm Hydrogen FCEV trucks make sense, and suit New Zealand’s heavy duty regs.

Despite the unique weight and axle loading rules in Kiwiland, it’s clear that Hydrogen FCEV is also going to be perfect for our long-distance truck needs in Australia The two Xcient FCEVs sitting in the workshop at Hyundai NZ being prepared for trials were heavy rigids, configured in the uniquely Kiwi way, with a rigid 3 axle truck, boasting a 42 tonne GCM, allowing it to haul a two or three axle dog trailer.

Those trucks will have around a 400km

range with a 10 to 15 minute refuel at one of the hydrogen fuel stations, which should be positioned every two hours or so along the routes they will be used on.

For the first trucks the routes are pretty much fixed and they will operate the same one, backwards and forwards to start with as part of a five truck commercial trial.

What that means is, Hyundai NZ has committed to bringing five trucks in will sell or lease those trucks to end customers, and they have worked very closely with each of the end customers, to determine the right program for them.

The idea is to demonstrate the technology advantages, the refueling network, and gain performance data on New Zealand roads, then it Hyundai NZ will be able to scale up.

With New Zealand Post announced as the first company to trial the Hyundai Xcient FCEV, Hyundai NZ is also working with other specific customers around a solution that suits them.

When there is more fuel and more variants available then the company will be able to extend the program. At the moment, the technology and cost scenario works quite well if you’ve got a relatively

light payload (suited to 40t GCM), like NZ Post with its parcel freight combined with high mileage.

We are told the equation they have around total cost of operation, provided the trucks are doing fairly high mileage is reasonably strong. While Hyundai NZ would not be drawn on the cost of the hydrogen fuel and the other elements in the formula, the indication was that the road user charge exemption for the zero emission trucks in place in NZ until December 2025, does deliver considerable savings.

Trucks in NZ pay for the number of kilometers they use, unlike Australia where road tax is levied through fuel tax on every litre of diesel. The road user charge exemption has raised the ire of some diesel truck fleets who have been critical of the tax holiday the zero emission vehicles have been given.

But really, it’s the easiest mechanism that the government can use to incentivise the acceleration to zero emission power, and maybe you could also use a counter argument that diesel users are not paying any contribution towards the damage they do to the environment and the quality

of the air.

However, at the moment, the road user charge exemption is an effective incentive, that certainly helps the economics with an initial take-up of FCEV like these Hyundais.

Some in NZ point out that the biggest problem is that the road user charge exemption needs to run longer, perhaps a six to eight year consideration to really help transition in the uptake of the new technologies. Without that, it’s going to be very difficult for it to make commercial sense. With a longer incentive hydrogen can achieve a closer to parity scenario.

Hyundai NZ is taking the Swiss spec Hydrogen Xcients, and while they are currently only available in left hand drive, the resourceful Kiwis are converting them to right hand drive in Auckland using their experience with selling diesel powered Xcients there and their resulting parts stock.

We are told the hydrogen Hyundais make for an extraordinary driving experience as well as have an impressive performance record in Switzerland where they have been in service for the past three years or so as we said earlier.

The 47 units that have been on the road

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in Switzerland for since 2020 have now logged more than five million combined kilometres,which is probably getting close to six million kilometres now, The NZ national heavy vehicle fleet currently accounts for four per cent of the total Kiwi vehicle fleet, but produces 25 per cent of the transport emissions.

For every Hydrogen fuel cell powered Xcient put on the road in NZ, covering around 200,000 kilometres a year, it represents the equivalent C02 output of about 100 passenger cars, based on New Zealand stats, so it can make a big difference with every truck.

Whether you agree or disagree with climate change, it can’t be a bad thing to reduce the air pollution and smog in our big cities and to start using more renewable resources.

Clearly, while Hyundai is a Korean truck, the Xcient feels like a very European vehicle, particularly the Hydrogen fuel cell versions being put into action in Kiwiland, and if NZ and Australia is going to make it easier to take advantage of these new technology vehicles, then we have to have rules and regulations that make it easier to do it.

For instance with these fuel cell trucks, all the configurations are for a European market, so everything from the way they configure the axles, to the way they set the truck up, and the width is aligned to Euro rules, so for us to take advantage of these new technologies our regulations need to be more accepting of the product configurations coming out of Europe.

The belief in NZ is that by the middle of

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this decade there will be a solid program for FCEV products and that they’re going to be the default go to power technology by the end of the decade.

When you start thinking about truck builds, production scheduling and body builds, customers will be ordering trucks and signing up to these in 2024, for 2025/ 2026 delivery, so that time will rush up on us.

The Hyundai system is a fuel cell dominant system and in the Xcient uses two fuel cells with both supplying direct energy to the electric motor.

It uses its battery at times in the drive mode, as a booster, so it might be a hillclimb, or on initial acceleration, but the battery is effectively there to catch recuperated energy on hill descents and under brakes, and it’s for supplying spontaneous energy on demand.

The Hyundais undergoing prep work in Auckland are equipped with type four carbon kevlar tanks, which are polymer lined and meet very high safety standards.

The four tanks in this particular Xcient hold about 32 kilograms of hydrogen stored under pressure at 350 bar, enough to give the truck a range of 400km between refuels.

The battery is a 72 kilowatt hour 661 volt pack comprising three 24 kWh batteries, the same as used in Hyundai’s electric passenger cars, which reflects the economies of scale that could be achieved from manufacturers sharing components across their ranges, from the smallest cars to the largest trucks, with modularity being the key word. You can

see that with Toyota and its Mirai fuel cell, which has been used in everything from small passenger cars to the buses servicing the Tokyo Olympics and even Paccar trucks at the Port of Long Beach in California.

The Xcient uses a 180kW fuel cell stack made up of two 90kW fuel cells, again underlining that modularity concept and the fact that the same fuel cells could be seen in Hyundai passenger cars, small commercial vans, light and medium duty trucks and even larger prime movers.

The fuel cell powers up the centrally mounted 350kW/2237Nm electric motor, which is coupled to a six-speed Alison automatic transmission.

The Hydrogen Xcient runs three separate and distinct cooling systems, with one for the fuel cells, another cooling system for the battery, and a third cooling system that runs the sub-assemblies. With heat and water being the only emissions from the production of electricity then cooling is vital in the efficient and reliable running of the truck.

Naturally, electricity runs all of the sub systems, with electric pumps pressurizing the hydraulic systems, as well as running power steering, the air conditioning system and any other components that may have been run off a belt drive on an internal combustion engine machine.

All in all you have to take your hat off to the Kiwis and in particular Hyundai NZ for such a pioneering effort, becoming only the third country behind Korea and Switzerland to put these zero emission trucks into operation.

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New Model

IVECO HAS LAUNCHED ITS LATEST HEAVY DUTY FLAGSHIP, THE S-WAY WITH A BRIEF DRIVE FOR AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT MEDIA AT THE ANGLESEA PROVING GROUND NEAR GEELONG. THE S-WAY IS THE TRUCK IVECO HOPES WILL RESCUE ITS FORTUNES IN THE AUSTRALIAN HEAVY DUTY TRUCK MARKET. WE WENT ALONG FOR A STEER AND TO SEE IF THE NEW TRUCK MIGHT BE IVECO’S HEAVY DUTY SAVIOUR OR A FALSE START TO THE BRAND’S HEAVY DUTY REVIVAL IN AUSTRALIA.

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business pundit we heard speaking on radio the other day gave an interesting commentary on how businesses become defunct. They said that this usually happens ‘very slowly but then very quickly’.

That seems on the surface to be contradictory but when you think about it, that is exactly what often happens. There is a slow decline in business, the company and its offering lose favour and sales decline, and then all of a sudden the business is gone. It is what happened with Iveco’s predecessor International, once the market leader in Australia and a dominant force.

Slowly Inter slipped down the sales charts in Australia and its parent in the US struck trouble, so it was easier to sell its Aussie operation to aspirational Italian Iveco.

Iveco took over the Inter plant, its adaptations of the International trucks including the Acco and Powerstar, and things rumbled on, slowly losing

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momentum as the world changed, but not a lot did at the Dandenong factory.

Slowly by slowly Iveco sales diminished and less buyers rushed to buy its heavy duty and medium duty models. Local Acco models were discontinued and a heavier import model was given the name plate. Then the Dandenong factory was closed as part of the downward spiral.

In 2010 Iveco had 7.4 per cent of the heavy market with 662 heavy sales. That slipped to 2.5 per cent and just 369 sales by the end of 2022. Back in 2010 Iveco’s total sales amounted to 1310 trucks and it had 4.5 per cent overall market share.

Last year it sold 1382 trucks for a market share of 3.1 per cent. But consider that in the 13 years between then and now the total Australian market has grown by 50 per cent from 29393 sales in 2010 to a record 44379 in 2022. They say a rising tide lifts all boats, but it seems Iveco missed the tide.

Five years ago Iveco told the Australian truck media that its X-Way was going to be the truck to turn around its heavy duty fortunes. Now it’s the S-Way that will be the new hero.

Along with the other truck media we were gathered at the AARC Anglesea test facility near Geelong, to take a look at and sample several different models and configurations. However the brief test drive was just that, a little bit brief to get a real reading on the truck, with little chance to get a full understanding of the performance of the S-Way. The new S-Way is of course new territory for Iveco, as it is the start of its transition in Australia to what it describes as a “dedicated range of fully imported heavy-duty commercial vehicles”.

The company says it’s a move that it believes will benefit local buyers by providing them with Iveco’s latest models and innovations almost in lock-step

timing with European releases.

From our brief steer in a variety of S-Way variants, we have to say, there is nothing wrong with the S-Way. It is an extremely capable truck and measures up in a whole range of ways. The problem at Iveco is not the product, it is the fact that Australian truck buyers have gotten out of the habit of buying the brand. There are probably a bunch of reasons, the fact that the opposition has improved faster, the Iveco dealer network is not as visible or motivated and marketing has not been as consistent or able to cut through as other brands have.

But can Iveco turn things around? We don’t know, but a lot of responsibility for sparking and making a turnaround successful, falls at the feet of Iveco Australia and NZ boss, Michael May. The S-Way is a key part of May’s strategy to win back sales for the European brand which as we have pointed

out, have suffered from dwindling sales in recent years, particularly in medium and heavy duty. They are hoping the new truck will not only be called S-Way but will also ‘sway’ opinion of buyers who have deserted the brand.

In Australia and NZ the Euro 6 compliant S-Way range will be available in rigid 6x2, 6x4 and 8x4 – with load share front suspension, or as a prime mover in 4x2 and 6x4 configurations. It will also have the choice of three cab options, Active Day (AD), Active Time (AT) and the largest, Active Space (AS). There is also the choice of three cab height options across the line-up.

Iveco revealed that the local S-Way will offer a choice of four wheelbases for prime mover variants, with 3650mm, 3200mm, 3300mm and 3500mm, while rigids will have a choice of 10 wheelbases, which are model dependent, and range between 3,500mm and 6050mm.

GVM and GCMs for the new range range from 18,200kg to 27,600kg (GVM), and from 50,000kg to 70,000kg (GCM) for prime movers and 27,600kg (GVM) and 70,000kg (GCM) for selected rigids (13l 6x4 and 8x4 models).

The company says that this spread of options and specification choices sees the S-Way positioned to cater for a broad range of applications including general freight and refrigeration work (including B-Double), tipper and dog duties and more specialised applications.

Power for the S-Way range comes from three versions of Iveco’s Cursor 9, Cursor 11 and Cursor 13 – two states of tune are available for the Cursor 9 and 13 variants, providing buyers with five outputs. All powerplants meet Euro6 (Step E) emission requirements which places more severe limits on engine cold start performance.

Euro 6 Step E is rumoured to potentially be the last round of emission protocols for

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“ WE’VE BUILT A GOOD STRONG CORE OF ENGINEERS AND WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GROW OUR CUSTOMIZATION AND INNOVATION CENTRE TO ALLOW US TO LOCALLY ADAPT IVECO GLOBAL PRODUCT”

Iveco Australia New Zealand boss, Michael May

ICE engines with some predicting that Euro 7 may be canned so that manufacturers can concentrate R& D on zero emission power plants.

Iveco says that all of the latest Cursor engines are also compatible with second generation biofuels HVO/XTL. The engine range begins with the 8.7l Cursor 9 which produces 360hp from 1,530 to 2,200rpm and 1,650Nm from 1,200 to 1,530rpm. In the 11.1l Cursor 11, power jumps to 460hp from 1,500 to 1,900rpm and 2150Nm of torque from 925 to 1,500rpm.

The largest of the engine family continues to be the 12.9l Cursor 13 which starts with output of 530hp at between 1,600 to 1,900rpm and torque of 2,400Nm from 950 to 1,500rpm. A second Cursor 13 rating sees it produce 550hp from 1,605 to 1,900rpm with torque of 2,500Nm from 1,000 to 1605rpm.

One can only imagine the lack of

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a larger capacity engine will continue to put Iveco at a disadvantage against its Euro opponents.

Michael May however believes the S-Way is the hard reset Iveco needs in Australia after the shut down of Dandenong and the disruptions of Covid.

“We are very excited about the S-Way, it has been a very challenging time for us but the team has done a really good job, I think sundowning the factory has given us a really exciting opportunity to align with our global product offerings,” said Michael May. “We’ve built a good strong core of engineers and we are going to continue to grow our customization and innovation centre to allow us to locally adapt Iveco global product,” he added.

He acknowledged the fact that Iveco has a job on its hands to win back market share and its customer base but says he believes the S-Way will motivate buyers.

Iveco says that although its latest heavy-duty truck offering is no longer assembled here, it claims Iveco ANZ has still played a “significant role in shaping the final specification of the vehicles that have begun arriving in the southern hemisphere along with prelaunch testing and validation programs”.

Iveco believes that the S-Way program showcases the high levels of cooperation within its design, engineering, manufacturing and validation centres.

The company says that the truck was designed in Germany and in Italy, but it says that there was also input from Australia and NZ, however with the relatively small volume Iveco has been selling in the heavy duty market here over the last few years, one wonders exactly how much influence such a small market might have on European design and engineering.

For all of that Iveco says the local S-Way feature unique content and specification

choices, not offered in other markets. As an example, it says that on the AS B-Double model, variances include a revised battery box and air tank positioning, the addition of a heavy duty crossmember to provide extra rigidity on demanding Australian roads, along with an additional fuel tank.

The company says that this model also features market specific air and electrical trailer connections, a trailer brake hand control and flat glass for its side mirrors.

It also says that a load sharing front suspension on 8x4 models delivers an extra 1000kg of capacity for the steer axles and again is unique to antipodean markets. Selected models also feature revised air cleaners and the company also says that all S-Ways benefit from optimised cooling packages designed to handle hot Australian summers.

Iveco says that S-Way underwent extensive validation programs in Europe as well as in Australia. In local testing,

particularly three units which were tested in a variety of specifications operated at full operating loads which it says amassed thousands of kilometres on routes from Melbourne to Brisbane return with considerable time also spent travelling through outback New South Wales.

The AS B Double model which we drove at Anglesea was one of the preproduction models used as a test truck for local validation and had logged more than 100,000 kms on its odometer.

Iveco also claimed that the S-Way drivetrains were tested using an additional four X-Way-bodied trucks which were driven over heavily undulating terrain in Tasmania and on the South Island of New Zealand.

Some of the S-Way’s key components including the ZF developed Traxon or HiTronix transmission as Iveco refers to it, along with earlier versions of the Cursor engine range, which were also fitted to

selected Iveco X-Way models.

With its aged local production facility in Dandenong now closed and the land sold, the new Iveco S-Ways are being assembled at the company’s manufacturing facility in Madrid in Spain, while its engines are being produced at the its Bourbon-Lancy plant in France. Iveco says that both sites are among the most modern facilities within the global commercial vehicle industry.

T&TA, lost its crystal ball a long time ago, so making a bold prediction is not something we are very well equipped to do, so whether Michael May and his team can turn things around is in the lap of future fate. We reckon May and his team are up for it and capable of succeeding but a lot of responsibility for a reborn Iveco in Australia will lie with the company’s International management, which has for many years been woefully inconsistent.

We wish Iveco a lot of luck, they will need it.

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New Model

IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT THE BRAND THAT CAUSES THE BOARD OF TRATON THE MOST HEADACHES AT THE MOMENT IS ITS GERMAN SUBSIDIARY MAN. IF YOU POUR OVER THE COMPANY RESULTS FROM TRATON EACH YEAR IT IS EASY TO SEE THAT MAN UNDERPERFORMS ITS SWEDISH SIBLING SCANIA, AND EVEN AGAINST THE LIKES OF TRATON’S NEW US CHILD, NAVISTAR. BUT HAVING DRIVEN THE LATEST FLAGSHIP MAN TGX WE RECKON THIS TRUCK COULD CURE SOME OF THOSE HEADACHES.

W

ord from Germany in recent times is that VW’s Traton operation has been putting a great deal of resources into turning its ‘problem child’ MAN around and to make it as trouble free as its other Euro brand Scania. It seems MAN’s main issues are about inefficiencies with its operations in Germany, that has seen Traton work hard to streamline things and to share technologies, components and drivelines between brands with a longer term goal of creating a strong EV brand, in line with parent VW’s overall EV drive.

In the meantime MAN still has many years of selling ICE or internal combustion engine trucks and the overhaul of MAN’s heavy duty range,

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which was launched in Australia in August last year is one of the key parts of the overall plan. While we covered that launch back then we had to wait a few months to get a chance for an extended drive on real roads and not on the excellent but restricted Mt Cotton Driver Training Centre on Brisbane’s outskirts.

Penske, the Australian distributor for MAN is also looking to lift the sales volumes of its German brand which have been under performing in the last few years. The marque did enjoy a time in the sun during 2018 and 2019 when it took 2.9 per cent of the total market with 1218 sales and 2.8 per cent and 1027 sales respectively in those two years. Those results were boosted by the contract to supply the Australian Defence Forces with MAN

trucks. However once that was fulfilled MAN’s market share fell back to just 359 units in 2020 and just one per cent share, dropping further to just 0.9 per cent in 2021 and 0.7 per cent last year for just 320 trucks.

Certainly the brand has an enormous amount of potential and it seems Penske will be pushing hard to raise MAN’s share and volume and the new trucks are the cornerstone of that push.

When we arrived at Penske Australia’s Brisbane headquarters in Brisbane we were set, and for a day at the wheel of the flagship TGX 26.640 coupled to a B Double set, and we were keen to get behind the wheel of this German big banger cabover, to see just how much MAN had done to put its flagship on

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an even footing with its rivals from Volvo and Mercedes and its siblings from Scania.

MAN is of course a venerable brand in Europe and its native Germany and certainly it has been around in Australia a long time and was among the first Europeans to try the Australian truck market.

However while its Euro opponents have gone from strength to strength MAN has struggled to gain a real foothold in the market.

After a day behind the wheel of the new MAN TGX 26.640 we came away with the belief that the German brand and its Australian distributor really have no excuses now.

The TGX is a truly outstanding truck in every way you look at it, so now it is really Penske and MAN’s job to convince more buyers to consider the German truck.

Certainly there seems to be a newly strengthened resolve at Penske Australia and a real push to lift the MAN sales boat

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on a rising tide of overall market sales. It certainly won’t be that easy, given the fact that we have a particularly competitive market and the propositions from Volvo, Benz and Scania are particularly compelling.

At Penske’s Wacol HQ we met up with our driving partner for the day, Derek Schoff, an affable Canadian sales guy who had been with the organisation some years, thanks to his long term involvement with its other key brand Western Star, but that’s another story. Schoff is above all a Penske guy and presented a strong case for the German brand throughout our time together in the cab.

While Penske has had control of the MAN brand for a decade this year, having purchased previous distributor, Trans Pacific in 2013, there is evidence that the organisation is putting more resources behind the brand than it has at any time in the past ten years.

MAN says that this new truck range is the first entirely new range to be developed by

the German company in almost 20 years.

At the launch back in 2022, Penske’s general manager of on road, Craig Lee, made some bold statements about the distributor’s hopes for the new MAN range, saying that over the next two years or so it hopes to more than double MAN’s market share in Australia.

As we set out from Wacol on a sunny Brisbane summer day with the mercury pushing into the low 30s and the humidity clawing at 100 per cent, we were thankful for the new TGX’s comfortable and efficiently air conditioned cab.

Our route for testing on the day was to tackle the tough and challenging climb up and over Cunningham’s Gap with a run down to the Ampol road house on the outskirts of Warwick before turning to tackle the descent back down Cunningham’s and into Wacol in the early afternoon traffic.

This is a run we tackle often for tests out

of Brisbane and it poses a strong challenge for any truck with a long and tough climb that has a couple of ‘kickers’.

Derek Schoff told us that the rig was grossing just shy of 60 tonnes as we set off, negotiating the roads around Penske to find our way onto the motorway west around Ipswich, and then on the single carriageway highways, out past Willowbank and Aratula to the ‘Gap. Underneath us was the MAN 15.2 litre D38 power plant rated at 640 hp, as the truck’s nomenclature indicated, while the six cylinder turbo diesel was rated to deliver 3000Nm of maximum torque from 900 to 1380rpm.

Managing the task of putting all that to the ground was MAN’s version of ZF’s Tipmatic 12 -speed AMT which is always a lovely shifter that delivers quick and decisive cog changes both up and down the box.

At the rear the big MAN had a 3.36:1

final drive with suspension at the back controlled by electronically adjusted air bag suspension. At the front there are parabolic leaf springs. The combination provided a terrific ride quality and enabled the MAN to track precisely, which was very apparent on the at times narrow and bumpy edges of the Cunningham Highway on the way out to Aratula.

The ZF AMT is a very good transmission and is very intuitive and responsive offering fast and very seamless changes that have clearly been well matched and programmed to the torque characteristics of the MAN’s 15.2 litre engine. The previously mentioned torque characteristics of the 640 engine with maximum delivered from 900 rpm means that it can get down and work hard in the lower rev band and the Tipmatic has been programmed to make the most of those characteristics.

This became increasingly obvious

as we reached and started to climb Cunninghams Gap. On the climb over the Gap the big MAN responded strongly, with the AMT slotting down to 7th , enabling the 640 horses to power their way up over the summit with comfort and relative ease.

The engine dropped to about 1400rpm at the toughest part of the climb.

The common rail turbo charged six cylinder MAN engine complies with Euro 6e which is an advanced emissions rating, thanks to two-stage turbocharging and a combination of both EGR and SCR systems and CRT, which is a ‘continuously regenerating trap’.

As well as delivering cleaner running and that higher level 6e compliance, it certainly hasn’t done anything to the fuel economy performance of the truck which proved strong and impressive during our relatively short test drive, but more of that later.

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Drive the road of change

More than power and fuel economy the D38 640 was both smooth and quiet and its coupling with the final drive ratio and the 12 speed ZF AMT meant that its performance on hills was excellent while at cruise the engine ticked over at 1300rpm at the legal limit of 100km/h.

The drivetrain is certainly creditable and a pleasing thing to drive, but one wonders, with the consolidation of the Traton stable, when MAN trucks will start to feature the new Scania Super engine and a version of the OptiCruise transmission, given they are now being used in the Traton Navistar line up in the US. Traton has said that it wants to integrate drivelines across its portfolio of brands to reduce costs and simplify parts stocking across the planet, which is a concept that was pioneered by Daimler with its truck brands in Europe, the US and in Japan. Of course that is also a model that Traton seems to be keen to emulate, so the potential for an MAN powered by a Traton family Super twin-cam diesel and a Scania sourced OptiCruise would not be a surprise to us one day, given most resources are being concentrated on zero emission drivelines.

Time will tell we suppose.

While making short work of the climb up the Gap, once on top of the plateau the 640 MAN ambled along with ease before turning for the run back to Brisbane and the descent back down the hill.

This is where MAN’s impressive Turbo EVBec Exhaust Valve Brake, which delivers about 840hp of retardation force

really showed its colours. The performance down the Gap, which is surely one of the most difficult descents in the country, was very confidence inspiring. Derek Schoff explained that the effectiveness of the EVBec comes from its positioning upstream from the turbo. It certainly works well and made the run down to the bottom safe and easy to manage.

A relatively short test drive like ours can’t of course give us an insight into the longer term usability and capability to cope with our tough Australian conditions, that have at times been a challenge for MANs in the past. We are told, however that part of the work on the new range has been a concerted effort to fix things that needed fixing on earlier MANs, so hopefully buyers of these new trucks will benefit longer term from improved performance and reliability.

The test truck we were steering was finished in an eye-catching gold colour scheme and certainly roused some attention on the road as did the attractive updated MAN cab design. Automotive design and particularly truck design is a very subjective thing and some might like the look more than others, but we like the appearance of these new models and we reckon they’ll capture quite a few sales.

Inside the MAN cab and behind the wheel of the TGX we were immediately taken with the simplicity of the instrument and infotainment screens as well as the switchgear and controls.

The cabin is very quiet, really nicely

appointed and very comfortable, with the few hours we spent behind the wheel proving to us that you could do long periods of relatively fatigue free driving behind the wheel of the TGX. This is the result of the sum of the parts, thanks to the truck’s excellent handling and ride, great cabin, quietness and the excellent layout of the cockpit, as well as the performance of the driveline. It is all easy, unfussed and simple to pilot.

Despite grossing around 60 tonnes the TGX proved extremely economical in our time with the truck, as we touched on earlier. Across the drive the truck indicated that we were averaging 2.1km/ litre which is an impressive number and we have no doubt that could be improved and bettered with more kilometres on board the truck.

By the time we arrived back at Wacol it was difficult to get out of the MAN cab and walk away. It was the sort of truck that we would like to have stayed in and turned it south for a run to Sydney or Melbourne.

We reckon we could have easily slept in the comfortable bunk, grabbing a few hours kip before enjoying more driving hours at the wheel of this compellingly comfortable and enjoyable big banger.

It will be interesting to see if the Penske organisation can garner support for the MAN marque that has so far eluded this storied Germany brand in Australia. It will take time and marketing resources, because as we said earlier, the product is no longer an excuse.

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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iveco.com.au

Operator

IT HAS BEEN A ROUGH FEW YEARS ON AUSTRALIAN ROADS, BETWEEN THE PANDEMIC, FIRES, FLOODS AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS. ON THE EAST COAST, QUEENSLAND AND NEW SOUTH WALES WERE HIT PARTICULARLY HARD IN 2022 WITH SEVERE FLOODING AND IT IMPACTED MANY FAMILIES AND MANY FAMILY-RUN BUSINESSES. ONE SUCH BUSINESS WAS ROGERS TRANSPORT, CURRENTLY BASED IN THE BRISBANE SUBURB OF ROCKLEA. WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE FAMILY OWNED OPERATION AND HOW THEY HAVE BEEN NAVIGATING THE ROAD TO RECOVERY.

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I

n 2022 the family-run operation bore the brunt of damaging flooding throughout Brisbane, losing no less than 26 trucks in their fleet during the event that inundated much of Southeast Queensland and New South Wales.

“We had about three and a half meters of water through the truck depot, and we lost 26 trucks in total, about half of those were rigids and the other half were prime movers. It’s taken us a while to get back on our feet,” said Rogers Transport’s Rocklea based General Manager of Operations Brad Rogers.

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Under normal circumstances the business offers a range of freight and logistics services including container movement, warehousing, local distribution and interstate freight transport. The business runs a large fleet of trucks including eight Isuzu FV Series 6x2 models.

Founded by Gary and Val Rogers over three decades ago, the successful freight and transport business moves hardware and paint supplies up and down the southeast coast.

Brad is the second generation of Rogers to take up a key role within

the popular transport operation.

Brad grew up under the tutelage of his hard-working parents and is familiar with trucking and what it takes to keep the fleet on the road and drivers happy and satisfied.

“We’ve been purchasing trucks from Brisbane Isuzu for decades. They helped us recently after the floods. We probably lost 15 rigid trucks, so Brisbane Isuzu moved quickly to assist us, and we’ve recently taken delivery of six F Series Isuzu trucks, and we’ve got another six on order.

Swiftly securing new trucks to continue servicing their long-term clients has made a world of difference for a business that prides itself on reliability and attention to detail.

“The wait times for trucks is ordinarily 12 to 18 months but Brisbane Isuzu were able to secure some within about four months; it’s a huge help and its turning things around for our customers too!”

With four FVL 240-300 Freightpacks and four FVM 230-300 Freightpacks on the road around the clock, the company introduced a ‘one driver one truck’ policy which meant that each driver is solely

responsible for the truck they operate.

It has been a huge success so far, seeing truck drivers take pride in the Isuzu F Series they pilot, with reduced mechanical and maintenance issues and next to no problems when it comes to upkeep, cleanliness and presentation.

“Rogers Transport drivers love their Isuzu trucks. They’re comfortable, they’re straight forward to use, they’re easy to work with, there’s plenty of parts available for them, and the reliability’s great,” Brad said.

“We’ve got a couple with over a million

kilometres still running with original engines. Isuzu engines have excellent performance and longevity.

“The trucks with a million kilometres are the first ones we bought over 15 years ago and they are in fantastic working condition. We’re big on our preventative maintenance and servicing - to look after all our trucks - no matter their age.

“All our servicing is done in-house by the team here and we use genuine parts from Brisbane Isuzu. Parts are always readily available and if there’s a delay it’s because the parts are on a truck up from

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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

Sydney or Melbourne and we’ll have them within a day or two.”

Adding further efficiencies, the latest F Series models to join the fleet came with some changes and upgrades that the team has had to adapt to.

“The new trucks all have automatic transmissions,” Brad noted.

“It was a change at first, but the guys are loving them. They’re loving the new AV unit and the creature comforts that Isuzu offers.”

“Swapping to the Allison Automatic was due to availability initially, but the feedback from the guys has been great.

They love them, so we’ve continued to spec the new trucks with automatics.

“It’s simpler to have an Auto when driving through traffic these days, the

roads in Brisbane are only getting busier and busier.

“These trucks service anywhere from Tweed Heads to Noosa and up to Toowoomba. While this part of the fleet is mainly local, the guys do get out on a longer run, on occasion.”

There are big things in the works for Rogers Transport outside of the F Series fleet expansion.

The company is also moving into a huge, purpose-built facility in the Port of Brisbane, which consolidates their three locations into one depot with a wealth of storage and room for expansion.

“We’ve just signed a lease on a new facility out at the Port, so we’re going to amalgamate all our three sites. It’s an

exciting time for us, with 55,000 square meters of yard!

“There will be roughly 18,000 square meters of storage and a huge container storage area.”

Last year might have had some rough patches for the Rogers Transport family, but things have turned around for the better with a well-specified Isuzu F Series fleet on hand and processes in place to move into a new location this year.

“Isuzu tick so many boxes for us that we aren’t looking at competitors, because we already operate with the best in the business. We want to continue our fleet expansions with Isuzu Trucks and Brisbane Isuzu because they have proven time and again to be relied upon.” ** ** **

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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.

LCV

HEIRLOOM DIAMOND MITSUBISHI’S AGEING TRITON IS A CONUNDRUM. ON ONE HAND IT REPRESENTS EXCELLENT VALUE AND STANDS OUT FROM THE OTHER DUAL CAB UTES WHILE DELIVERING GOOD PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND IT IS AN AGEING PLATFORM WITH SOME DISTINCT HANDICAPS COMPARED WITH NEWER RIVALS. WE CLIMBED ABOARD THE TRITON GSR FOR A 2000KM DRIVE AND TOW TEST AND FOUND THIS AGEING DIAMOND IS STILL A VALUED HEIRLOOM OF THE UTE MARKET.

T

he phone call from a friend came on Monday and the plaintiff voice was clearly fishing for some help.

“I just bought a race car and a trailer and I have to get it from the Central Coast up here to Brisbane,” was the statement without actually asking a question.

“Well you might just be in luck,” was the reply.

“It just so happens that we have a new Mitsubishi Triton GSR dual cab on test this week , with a towbar and we wanted to do an extended tow test so how about we bring it up on Thursday,” we told him.

The joy on the other end of the phone was palpable and clearly we had made his day.

The Mitsubishi Triton is arguably the

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most unsung hero of the increasingly popular and vital dual cab ute market in Australia. Before the fast improving crop of Chinese utes lobbed, the Triton clearly represented the best value amongst the Japanese ute brigade, and even against the lower prices of the Chinese makes, the Triton is still an excellent proposition.

We hooked up our friend’s new race car and trailer on Wednesday afternoon and prepped ourselves for an early departure on Thursday morning to ensure we would arrive in the Queensland capital around mid afternoon.

With the load being hauled behind tipping the scales at a shade under two tonnes the Triton handled the task easily, cruising at 110km/h on the motorway and not having too much energy sapped on the

big hills of the Pacific.

None of the other Japanese utes on the market represent the same value proposition that Triton delivers, not just in features, but in fit and finish and actual on road performance .

Others may have an edge in some areas of performance and handling but the cost is much higher, for instance Ford’s excellent Ranger, but the Triton like for like is thousands, nay tens of thousands cheaper than the big Ford ute.

The Triton GSR we were in was painted in a striking bronze colour, which seems to be. A trendy paint tone in the ute market at the moment and certainly one that makes it stand out on the road. The other aspect of the Triton is that it has a very distinctive styling compared with

its market opponents, and the GSR has a few other accoutrements to make it an even more stylish vehicle to address the ‘lifestyle’ market in the dual cab segment.

These are the new family wagons, with a lot of buyers choosing a dual cab for the advantages they offer with fringe benefits tax and overall cost effectiveness.

The other thing that makes the Triton a good option on this market is Mitsubishi’s well earned and deserved reputation for reliability and durability that is a safer bet than some of the Chinese alternatives while delivering similar reliability to its Japanese opponents, again at a distinct price advantage.

The GSR variant is the top of the range in the Triton line up and comes with a price tag of $56,940 plus on-road costs,

which is way lower than the likes of Toyota, Isuzu, Mazda and Ford. If you compare it with like for like models from Toyota, with its SR5 at $61,930 and Ford’s Ranger Wildtrack at $67,190, you start to understand the Triton’s fiscal attraction.

The test Triton GSR was not only fitted with the vital tow bar ($1308) and electric brake package ($770), as well as an underrail tub liner ( $642 ) but also the optional front bullbar with a fog lamp pack at a cost of $4611 which bumped up the astested price a fair bit.

Inside the Triton GSR is a roomy and comfortable environment with well bolstered and very supportive front bucket seats finished in black leather amongst an interior that is practical and well laid out, if a little dated in places.

The rest of the interior features harder materials on the dash top and door trims that should be long wearing and able to cope with the rigours of being a work ute or the even tougher needs of coping with a herd of children as a family bus Although a little dated in places Mitsubishi has updated some aspects, adding a push-button start, dual-zone climate control, steering-wheel-mounted paddle-shifters, heated seats in the front, as well as plethora of storage options including cupholders, a central bin, and door pockets with bottle holders for the obligatory water, that comes in handy on a ling trip such as the one we had to tackle with the trailer.

The driver’s seat in the GSR also gets power adjustment and the steering wheel

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adjustable for both tilt and reach, meaning that no matter what the stature and size of the driver they can almost certainly reach an ideal driving position.

The rear bench seat works fine with reasonable room for three passengers, although with most dual cab utes, the second row of seats is mostly a bit of a compromise, but overall Mitsubishi has done a reasonable job with the latest Triton.

When we mentioned a little while ago that some aspects of the Triton were dating a little, we were mainly thinking of its infotainment screen and system, which at just 7.0-inches is a touch on the small side these days and at times the interface is a little clunky. It does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with cable connection as well as digital radio and Inbuilt satellite navigation, however screens in other dual cabs, like Ford’s Ranger, are much bigger and have better interfaces. It is also positioned high on the dash which means it can be hard to read in certain light situations when glare affects the ability to see it.

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The small screen means it is hard to read navigation info on it, while the image from the rear view camera isn’t great, but it is adequate.

The instrument panel in front of the driver is very traditional featuring a round speedo dial on one side and a round tacho on the other, separated by a small old style digital screen delivering a variety of information. It is not that easy to read or to scroll through, and again it is showing its age a little, but that is judging it against the latest in the market. It still works fine, if a bit clunkily.

A pair of USB plugs are available in the front along with another two in the rear seat area along with a pair of 12 volt ‘cigarette style lighter’ plugs, which means there is plenty of charging options.

Overall we found the interior comfort, quietness and ambience of the Triton to be great and certainly made for a comfortable run to and from Brisbane.

The load tray of the Triton isn’t as big as some of its market rivals, being both shorter and narrower than most others as well as having a load height that is

further off the ground , making it hard to load heavier items. Still it is only fractions here and there and even with a full load of spare wheels the tray area took all we could throw at it.

The Triton’s 2.4-litre turbo diesel delivers 133kW of power and 430Nm torque which is adequate but not stunning. It works well enough and our tow test to Brisbane showed it pumps along very smoothly and nicely on a highway.

It is coupled to a six speed torque converter automatic that again is showing its age by comparison to the seven, eight and ten speed options in opposition utes.

However again it works well enough and with the paddle shift on the GSR it makes it easy to tap down a gear and prepare for a down hill corner or to find more urge on a hill.

The 2.4 turbo diesel does have excellent mid range torque and has impressive urge for overtaking and accelerating in that range from 50 km/h up to about 100km/h.

The four wheel drive system can be easily accessed via Mitsubishi’s Super

Select 4×4 system, giving the driver the ability to choose 4×2, 4×4 high range and 4×4 low easily and without fuss. There is also the option of an on-road 4×4 mode, which opens up the centre diff on sealed roads delivering the advantage of good wet road traction without the driveline binding up and pushing mid corner.

Like a lot of Japanese utes, the Triton is a little over sprung and underdamped, with too much bounce and not enough damping at times. This means that over bumps it can bounce around for a while before settling down.

The Triton does boast a very good turning circle, which at just 11.8 metres is a long way ahead of the likes of the HiLux and Ranger, giving it a clear advantage in urban situations but also in the bush if you happen to take a wrong road and have to back track Another advantage the Triton delivers is a relatively low tare weight of 1999kg, which is around 60 kg less than the HiLux and a whopping 343 kg less than the Ranger. It has a payload of 901 kg while its braked tow capacity is just 3100kg.

That number is possibly a deal breaker for some as a result of the fact that it puts the Triton around 400kg behind the segment standard of 3500kg.

Fuel consumption wise it was an interesting exercise for us, towing a heavy trailer up to Brisbane and coming back with just the bare ute and only the driver on board. At highway running with the trailer we recorded an average of just over 16 litres/100km. On the return leg empty the fuel consumption improved out of sight, dropping to an average of 8.9 litres per 100km, slightly above Mitsubishi’s claimed average of 8.6L/100km on the combined cycle.

The Triton’s suite of safety technologies runs to autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection as well as junction assist there’s also blindspot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and lane-departure warning, although they are passive only, meaning they provide warnings but offer no assistance, such as gently nudging the ute back into its lane.

Another area where Mitsubishi offers a very attractive advantage is in the area

of warranty, with its industry leading 10 year 200,000km safety net, if you have it serviced throughout the warranty at an authorised Mitsubishi dealership.

Otherwise, if you service elsewhere it falls back to a standard five year/100,000km warranty. That it not too onerous given the standard service intervals are one year or 15,000km, with a capped price of the servicing which should average out at $600 a year over ten years.

Overall we enjoyed the Triton, despite a few foibles and the ageing design and technology it boasts. It is a well-priced, tough durable ute option that has a great warranty, is cheap to run and simply does the job its meant to do without fuss and bother. Would we buy one? You bet, particularly if we were on a tight budget.

There are other better options but they will cost you, which is why Mitsubishi continue to sell this ute in strong numbers.

Having said that I am sure Mitsubishi execs and Triton buyers are waiting impatiently for the next gen model due in about two years time, and that may not be soon enough for many.

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Company Car

ELECTRIC CARS ARE THE TOPIC DE JOUR IT SEEMS. EVERY SECOND PERSON WE SPEAK TO SAYS THEIR NEXT CAR WILL BE ELECTRIC, BUT PRICE AND SUPPLY APPEAR TO BE THE BIGGEST HURDLES STANDING IN THE WAY OF MANY MORE PEOPLE STEERING DOWN THE ZERO EMISSION ROUTE. WE TAKE HYUNDAI’S SUPERB IONIC 5 FOR A SPIN AND FIND A CAR THAT IS FABULOUS TO DRIVE AND LIVE WITH, IF ONLY WE COULD EASILY SECURE ONE TO BUY.

P

roof that electric cars are desirable and there is demand for them is Tesla’s sales performance over the past couple of years. The Elon Musk company finished in the top ten of Australian passenger car sales last year and in March this year the Tesla Y was the fifth most popular car sold with 1938 for the month, while its slightly smaller sibling the Model 3 saw another 1640 Australians put their money on the counter for one.

So how come Tesla can sell so many electric cars and daylight finishes second in the zero emission sales charts each month. Well the biggest issue is the ability for other manufacturers to get supply of electric cars from their overlords overseas.

Hyundai is a case in point. The Korean maker has some dazzling electric cars like

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the terrific Ionic 5, which is the subject of this road test. However the Tesla Model Y outsold the Ionic 5 by a factor of about 10 to 1 in 2022 with Tesla shifting over 8000 Model Ys and Hyundai about 750 Ionics.

A clue could be that when Hyundai offered the Ionic for sale on line, the company’s entire allocation for the year ahead was sold in a matter of seconds, not minutes. The allocation was tiny really, but it proves that the demand for stylish and well-engineered electric cars is growing exponentially.

While supply is still not great, the latest 2023 spec Ionics have been given an upgrade with a greatly improved ride and handling package that at least addresses some of the major criticism of previous incarnations of the Ionic.

Our test vehicle was the AWD Techniq model which has a sticker price of $79,500 plus on roads, for what is the mid-range dual-motor all-wheel drive variant in the Ionic range.

The Ioniq 5 has a great deal of street presence with its futuristic looks and fantastic interior design. It is a big spacious vehicle that redefines the traditional sedan design in our opinion.

The placement of the batteries in the Ionic 5 has meant that the Hyundai designers have been able to give the car a flat floor and a free standing centre console which is not attached to the dash. That means that you can freely slide across from the driver’s seat to alight from the car on the passenger side, which is an advantage at times particularly on busy roads.

That console can also slide forward and aft to give more room which is a really smart design, that fits with a lot of other clever engineering and design in the Ionic 5. There is a really versatile take on the traditional glovebox, which in this case is actually a drawer that works really well.

The interior is particularly sleek and modern with the best interior lighting we have ever encountered in a vehicle with pastel shades of ambient light emanating from behind the armrests and from around the audio speakers.

Climb behind the wheel and you discover the really beautifully designed seats which offer terrific support and bolstering and just look fantastic There is heating and cooling functions on the front seats and they are electrically adjustable.

They also boast an added bolster on the front edge of the seat that offers support for the lower legs, which along with the fact that the seats can be laid almost perfectly flat, gives a great place to rest while waiting at a charge station for instance.

In the rear there is a 60/40 split bench seat which also boasts electric adjustment, with all of it controlled from the side of the front passenger seat, which means you can manage the positioning of all the seats to ensure the best layout for seating or cargo.

There are two USB type A outlets positioned in the centre console, with a third that allows CarPlay and Android Auto pairing on the bottom of the centre dash.

There are also a further two USB outlets on the back of the front seats along with

map pockets while air vents have been plumbed into the B-pillars, which is another piece of clever engineering.

Each of the four doors has a deep and wide door pocket that will take a one litre drink bottle with plenty of nooks and cranies for stowage all around the cabin.

Hyundai says that the boot has a 527 litre capacity, with the seats in place but almost double that when they are folded flat. There is 25 litres of storage in what some people are calling the ‘Froot’ or front boot, although in the US they tend to call it a Frunk for front trunk, which is a benefit of not having an engine to fit under the bonnet.

Sitting in the driver’s seat the view ahead is impressive with a really well designed

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ROARING TO LIFE.

instrument cluster, which uses a 12.3 inch digital screen with a range of different themes based on the variety of drive modes.

There is an augmented reality heads up display which also displays directional arrows when using the integrated navigation system and also includes lane departure warnings.

The 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system in the centre of the car boasts very contemporary and appealing graphics with easy to use and understand menus as well as a number of buttons that give shortcuts for various functions. There is also the ability to program a ‘star’ button to go to a specific menu, which is rather handy and would make it all easier to live with.

Hyundai has given the Ionic 5 proximity unlocking, which means as long as you have the digital key with the car will unlock as you approach with no need to click a button or press the door handle as on other new cars.

As we mentioned the Techniq test car has a dual-motor all-wheel drive system boasting 239kW of power and a stunning 605Nm of torque that gives the car an impressive 0-100km/h time of 5.1 seconds. With AWD and that amount of power, acceleration can feel like you are piloting a TIE Fighter in an episode of Star Wars, it is really amazing.

Under the floor is a 77.4kWh lithiumion polymer battery pack that has a range of around 454km, which is about the

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standard for most electric machines like this in the market today, give or take a handful of kilometres..

The Ionic 5 uses a 800V electrical system, and that means that it can be recharged using a 350kW ultra-fast DC charger.

Enabling you can take it from 10 per cent to 80 per cent charge in about 18 minutes.

If you are forced to use the 50kW charger it will take a shade over 70 minutes.

We used the Ionic 5 over two weeks around the Christmas break travelling the 160 km to and from Sydney to Newcastle and in urban driving around both cities.

The car easily tackled the highway running and in fact the quiet and serene ambience of the cabin while sitting on 110km/h is just wonderful and a joy to behold.

Around town the spirited acceleration and turbine like take off means it is a great machine for sprinting between traffic lights and staying ahead of the traffic overall.

Being an electric car the retardation available when you button off the throttle slows the car incredibly efficiently and with Hyundai’s i-Pedal mode, which delivers a one-pedal driving facility, that means you can just about bring the car to a stop without touching the brakes.

The function recalls your specific regenerative braking settings and if it’s on the maximum setting you only need to pull the column mounted paddle once when you start the car and when you back off the car quickly decelerates.

Handling wise the Ionic has a good balanced feel and sits well and flat on the road with very little body roll and with nice, direct and good feel through the steering. Damping and overall ride feel is not always the best on the Ionic 5 but in most instances and when cruising up a motorway it is fine and gives a comfortable and relaxed feel.

As a driver that enjoys being in charge of the car, the inclusion of lane keep in the form of Hyundai’s Lane Following Assist, would not normally please us, as we find this intrusive and annoying in its intervention, when drivers really need to be more attentive in how they control their vehicles. However it does work reasonably well and certainly keeps the car well centred in the lane.

One day when Hyundai gets adequate supply the Ioniq 5 will surely skyrocket up the sales charts. It is an excellent electric car that is very easy to live with and enjoy. Until then we will have to hover over the webpage waiting to grab a slot in the supply chain.

Hopefully the new Federal Governments Electric Vehicle Strategy will make the powers that be in overseas controlled car makers free up supply, let’s keep our fingers crossed.

For those who sign on the dotted line for an Ioniq 5 they will get a vehicle that’s distinctively styled inside and out, quick to charge and utterly comfortable.

MAN’s TGX 26.510 is trucking redefined. Featuring the generous GM cab and powered by MAN’s technologically-advanced 510hp 13L Euro 6 engine with over 390hp of engine braking, the TGX will go the distance.

Come and see us in the main hall to learn how our new MAN truck generation boasts excellent driver fit, great efficiency and economy features, optimised uptime, and makes for a strong business partner.

GET SOME LED IN YOUR INDICATORS Narva has released a new range of GEN III LED signalling globes, which the company says provides

smooth and measured flash pattern.

vehicle owners with a complete incandescent globe replacement solution, delivering added brightness

interior LED globes, that increase output by

and reliability for indicators, brake lights, number plate and reverse lights.

globes, to better illuminate the cabin.

The new Gen III LED range is available in both

This plug and play replacement produces a crisp, white 2700°K quality light, to develop an amazing

12 and 24V and in a wide selection of fitments and sizes including T10 Wedge (interior/park/

20 per cent greater output behind coloured lenses, while also offering reduced current draw.

tail/numberplate), T20 Wedge (stop/tail), 12/24V Festoon (interior/numberplate), High Power

The new Narva Gen III LED globes are also CANBUS compatibility ensuring they work seamlessly

Reverse 1500lm and Bayonet.

The latest globes can be purchased from leading

with modern vehicle computer systems, while the indicator globes are resistor-free providing a

automotive and 4x4 stockists and are designed for off road use only.

Also new to the Gen III range is a selection of

150 years

140 per cent compared to standard incandescent

STOP IT! BENDIX LAUNCHES NEW RANGE OF HEAVY DUTY DISC BRAKE PADS Leading Australian brake manufacturer Bendix has released its latest development in high performance brake pads providing solutions engineered for heavy duty applications on commercial vehicles.

They’re designed and engineered to combat the extreme pressures heavy duty vehicles, such as concrete agitators, refuse compactors, big rigs and city route buses, are exposed to on a daily basis and Bendix says they’re specially engineered to meet Australia’s demanding conditions.

of delivering leading edge truck tyres to the world.

The range meets ECE-R90 regulations and are FE rated which calls for brake pads to be tested for braking capabilities, speed sensitivity, cold performance and may only deviate from the frictional characteristics of their original equipment counterparts by no more that 15 per cent.

Bendix says the new range covers the most popular heavy commercial vehicle applications and is now available from leading Bendix stockists.

URBAN, BUS AND COACH TYRES

GET A LIFE PO SAYS PROJECTA PROJECTA HAS LAUNCHED A NEW 12V LITHIUM IRON PHOSPHATE (LIFEPO₄) BATTERY RANGE, WHICH IT SAYS PROVIDE POWERFUL, YET SAFE AND RELIABLE PERFORMANCE FOR A RANGE OF APPLICATIONS INCLUDING 4X4, RV, TRADE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES. The range’s LiFePO₄ chemistry is claimed to be the safest lithium technology available, and is inherently safer than lithium cobalt competitors.

a 160Ah lead acid battery and is covered by a two year warranty, as well as the high discharge

They feature a built in Battery Management System

discharge current, ideal battery for four-wheel drive and caravan owners, and is capable of powering 2000W inverters.

(BMS), to protect from under/overvoltage and over/ underheating and monitors individual cell voltages.

Projecta says they are capable of delivering over 2000 cycles, up to eight times more than lead acid batteries, and also offer superior charging and discharging rates.

LB100-BT, which delivers an impressive 150 Amp

The LB100-BT status can also be monitored via smartphone or tablet using Bluetooth and comes

There are two models, the LB100 with true 100

with a three year warranty Projecta’s new lithium batteries are available

Amp discharge current, capable of powering 1000W inverters as well as a fridge and is equivalent to

from leading automotive, camping, caravanning and four-wheel driving outlets nationwide.

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ON/OFF ROAD TYRES

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