Iveco Nikola Tre BEV offers 330 miles of emissions-free haulage

Iveco will begin proof of concept trials of its Nikola Tre electric tractor unit later this year after showing the pre-production truck at the CV Show.

Already on trial with 50-60 customers in mainland Europe, the 4x2 truck will be available in the UK initially in left-hand drive, with right-hand drive models expected to follow six months later. Iveco will also be brining a hydrogen fuel cell version to the UK, according to truck business line director Gareth Lumsdaine.

The Nikola Tre will be up to 44 tonnes and carry nine modular 82kWh batteries (total output of 738kWh), which are positioned in the chassis to maximise load length and capacity. With a range of up to 330 miles, the truck can be charged from 10-90% in 100 minutes on a 350kW charger or 3.5 hours on a 175kW charger.

Iveco will be taking a cautious approach to sales, said Lumsdaine. “Our responsibility is to engage with a partner until we understand their routes, work patterns and infrastructure. It’s not a market proposition; we need to work with them to build a plan.”

He added: “Our advantage is we’ve done this before with gas where we led the way. When we started with biogas there was no infrastructure, so we have the experience within the business and within the dealer network to have these conversations.”

With around 500,000 trucks in the UK and an annual new market of between 45,000-50,000 units, it will take around 10 years for a truck to cycle out the market.

Consequently, Lumsdaine urged fleets to begin preparing as soon as possible ahead of the 2035/2040 deadlines for the end of new diesel truck sales, but he also believes the Government needs to do more to facilitate the transition process.

“We are introducing product more than 10 years before the cut off date,” he said. “We will have the product, we trained the dealers and technicians, and the fleets want the product.

“Now it’s all about the infrastructure and the incentives to hit the goal – it’s in the Government’s hands.”

Lumsdaine points to the German market, where around 80% of the cost gap between diesel and electric is covered by Government grants. In the UK, operators get up to £16,000.

“The Government needs to do more to help operators bridge the TCO (total cost of ownership) gap,” he added.

“They also need to speed up the infrastructure roll out. There is a pot of money and no dates – it needs to be rolled out now.”