Iveco plans own EV move

By Carol Millett

Iveco will produce and market its heavy-duty battery electric and heavy-duty fuel cell electric trucks under its own brand, following the end of its joint venture with US manufacturer Nikola Motors, the company has revealed.

First off the blocks are the Iveco Heavy Duty BEV – which under the now defunct joint venture was to be marketed as the Nikola Tre BEV in Europe – and the Iveco Heavy Duty FCEV (pictured). Both are being produced in the manufacturing facility at Iveco Group’s multi-brand site in Ulm, Germany.

The move follows Iveco Group’s acquisition in June this year of Nikola’s share of the electric truck joint venture company, known as Nikola Iveco Europe, which the two manufacturers set up in 2019. The company has also been rebranded EVCO (Electric Vehicles Company).

The purchase cost Iveco $35m (£27.5m) and effectively bought out Nikola from the European markets. Nikola said at the time that it will focus on its US activities.

As part of the acquisition, Iveco received a license to further develop the vehicle control software for the jointly developed battery-electric vehicle (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV)

HGVs. In turn, Nikola received a permit for the S-Way technology in North America and related components.

The Iveco HD BEV and the Iveco HD FCEV both feature an electric axle that is co-designed and produced by powertrain specialist FPT Industrial, part of the Iveco Group. Batteries are supplied by Proterra, and the fuel cell technology and key components by Bosch.

The vehicles are based on the Iveco S-Way platform, which has been redesigned to support the fuel cell and battery technology.