The IAA Commercial Vehicles Show is back. The every-other-year expo has an expanded concept, a shorter run, and a new name after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 event.

What is now called IAA Transportation will be held at the Deutsche Messe exhibit grounds in Hannover, Germany, Sept. 20-25 — at six days, shorter than it was in the past. The theme is “People and Goods on the Move.”

One major goal of the new concept is to focus on climate-neutral and technological transformation in the entire transportation industry. This includes commercial vehicles, buses, trailers and bodies, and connectivity with the rail network, with shipping, aircraft and delivery robots for the last mile.

Concentrating on transport, logistics and intermodality, the event will cover “all important topics that point to the future,” according to an announcement. In addition to infrastructure providers and the hi-tech sector, buses in particular will have a greater focus. As the volume of traffic is still rising and logistics is becoming more important on the last mile, the new concept will also cover urban planning and traffic planning.

“One aspect unites all the topics: If the Paris Climate Goals are to be achieved by 2050 at the latest, logistics must also undergo an extensive transformation, and the necessary conditions for this have to be created now,” said a statement from VDA, the German Association of the Automotive Industry, which partners with Deutsche Messe AG to put on the show.

New Briefs from Around the World

Hydrogen-powered trailer: Fruehauf SAS, a trailer maker based in France, recently exhibited a prototype of what it claims is the first hydrogen-powered semi-trailer. The Hyd-Drive consists of a rear axle with a 400V electric motor, which is powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell system, integrated with a 13.5m semi-trailer with an unladen weight of 7 tons. The system can provide the tractor-trailer combination with additional traction when needed and reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Fruehauf aims to begin series production in 2023.

Ambev goes electric In Brazil: Beverage company Ambev SA is buying another 150 all-electric trucks from JAC Motors Brasil Ltda, an independent dealer representing Chinese manufacturer JAC. The company has already started receiving an order of 100 units of the e-Delivery, Volkswagen’s all-electric model, and it has signed a contract for the purchase of 1,000 electric trucks from Brazilian manufacturer FNM to be delivered starting this year. Ambev is creating a network of charging points that will draw energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar.

Biomethane Declaration: Iveco, Scania, and Volvo Trucks are among 28 European companies and associations pushing the role of biomethane and biogas in the EU as part of the effort to decarbonize transport and industry. The companies presented a Biomethane Declaration to EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson highlighting the ambitions of its signatories to scale up biomethane application across Europe. These truck makers believe that the best way forward to carbon neutrality is a mix of renewable biogas, as well as battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles, to meet different applications.

Testing self-driving trucks: Italian truck maker Iveco is working with autonomous-truck-tech company Plus to pilot self-driving trucks in Europe and China. The comprehensive testing in Europe, which will begin in Germany and potentially include other countries, and China is to help validate the design of an Iveco S-Way autonomous truck integrated with Plus’s Level 4 autonomous trucking technology.

Hotline Global is produced in partnership with UK-based Truck & Bus Builder. A free trial subscription to T&BB is available. This news first appeared in the Jan/Feb issue of Heavy Duty Trucking.