Daimler Trucks & Buses targets completely CO2-neutral
fleet of new vehicles by 2039 in key regions 

• Ambition: New trucks and buses in the triad markets of Europe, Japan and NAFTA in CO2-neutral driving operation by 2039 (“tank-to-wheel”)
• Battery-electric series-production vehicles by 2022 in all core regions
• Daimler Trucks already a pioneer in electric trucks, Daimler Buses with electric city bus in series-production since 2018
• World premiere of FUSO fuel-cell prototype “Vision F-Cell” at Tokyo Motor Show in Japan – increased activity in hydrogen field
• Hydrogen-based series-production vehicles by the end of the 2020s
• CO2-neutral production plants in Europe by 2022 – all other plants to follow
• Martin Daum, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Trucks & Buses: “At Daimler Trucks & Buses we are clearly committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Protection Agreement and thus to the decarbonization of our industry. Having CO2-neutral transport on the road by 2050 is our ultimate goal. This can only be achieved if competitive conditions for CO2-neutral transport are created for our customers in terms of costs and infrastructure. Truly CO2-neutral transport only works with battery-electric or hydrogen-based drive.”

Stuttgart/Berlin – Daimler Trucks & Buses, one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, pursues a sustainable corporate strategy and aims to offer only new vehicles that are CO2-neutral in driving operation (“tank-to-wheel”) in the triad markets of Europe, Japan and NAFTA by 2039. Already by 2022, Daimler Trucks & Buses’ plans to include series-produced vehicles with battery-electric drive in its vehicle portfolio in its main sales regions Europe, USA and Japan. By the end of the next decade, Daimler Trucks & Buses will extend its range of vehicles with hydrogen-powered series production vehicles. Just this week Daimler Trucks & Buses celebrated the world premiere of the FUSO brand fuel-cell prototype “Vision F-Cell” at the Tokyo Motor Show in Japan, thus further strengthening its activity in the hydrogen field. In addition, all European Daimler Trucks & Buses plants will be CO2-neutral by the year 2022. All other plants will follow.

Martin Daum, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Trucks & Buses, said in his keynote address today at the International Supply Chain Conference in Berlin: “At Daimler Trucks & Buses we are clearly committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Protection Agreement and thus to the decarbonization of our industry. Having CO2-neutral transport on the road by 2050 is our ultimate goal. This can only be achieved if competitive conditions for CO2-neutral transport are created for our customers in terms of costs and infrastructure. As it takes about ten years to completely renew a fleet until 2050, our ambition is to offer ‘tank-to-wheel’ locally CO2-neutral new vehicles in the triad by the year 2039. Truly CO2-neutral transport only works with battery-electric or hydrogen-based drive. We were the first manufacturer to seriously commit to electromobility in heavy trucks and, today, are pioneers and in all segments with electric vehicles in customer use. With our holistic approach to e-mobility in the bus sector, which consists of an electric city bus and consulting, we are already making a significant contribution to the locally emission-free public transport of the future and air pollution control in urban areas.”

“Locally CO2-neutral trucks and buses won’t sell themselves, because even in 2040 — despite all efforts by manufacturers — the acquisition and total cost of ownership of trucks and buses with electric drives will be still higher than for diesel vehicles. We therefore need government incentives to make locally CO2-neutral trucks and buses competitive. Particularly necessary: converting and staggering tolls Europe-wide based on CO2 values whereby CO2-neutral vehicles would get significant relief, a targeted subsidy program for buses and for a nationwide charging and hydrogen infrastructure as well as uniform standards for the transport and refueling of hydrogen,” continued Daum.

Global e-truck portfolio

Daimler Trucks has been gaining experience with electric trucks since 2010 and since 2017 has had its first small series-produced all-electric truck on the market and in customers’ hands: the Fuso eCanter light-duty truck. Over 140 eCanters are already in customer service in cities worldwide, including New York City, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Lisbon. The Mercedes-Benz eActros heavy-duty truck, with a range of up to 200 km, is in intensive use by customers in Germany and Switzerland as part of the eActros “innovation fleet”. The first hand-off to a customer was in 2018. In the United States, the medium-duty Freightliner eM2 and the heavy-duty Freightliner eCascadia are also undergoing intensive field tests with customers.

Complete and practical system for bus e-mobility

The all-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro, which has already been series-produced at the Mannheim facility since 2018, offers cities and public transport providers the opportunity to switch their fleets to locally emission-free driving. Today the eCitaro is already operating in cities such as Berlin, Hamburg (both Germany), Oslo/Norway and Ystad/Sweden. eCitaro vehicles were also delivered to Luxembourg and Switzerland. The eCitaro is being continuously advanced for use in regular service. As of 2021, the eCitaro will come to the market with the next-generation battery and in the second half of 2020 with solid-state batteries (lithium-polymer batteries). As of 2022 the battery bus will come with a range extender (hydrogen-based fuel cell provides the high-voltage battery with power). Future battery technologies will lead to increasing service coverage in regular operation – with the fuel cell as a range extender nearly all routes can be served. Since the electrification of bus fleets is associated with major changes at public transport providers, Daimler Buses joins with its customers to provide an understanding of the overall e-mobility system through holistic consulting. The Thomas Built Buses brand also launches a series-produced electric school bus for the American market.

Hydrogen-based drives

Daimler has been working on drive technologies based on hydrogen for more than 30 years. To date the company’s fuel cell vehicles have traveled many millions of kilometers, demonstrating the marketability of this drive concept. Still, there are very specific challenges in the commercial vehicle sector, such as service life and payload availability. Battery-electric and hydrogen-drive technologies offer different benefits depending on the purpose and therefore complement each other. The decisive criterion for truck and bus customers is the total cost of ownership.

FUSO “Vision F-Cell”: prototype with fuel cell

With the “Vision F-Cell” Daimler Trucks & Buses is further strengthening its activity in the hydrogen field. The FUSO brand is using this prototype to test the possibilities of fuel-cell technology for various commercial vehicles. The 7.5-tonner has a drive with a maximum output of 135 kW. The range is up to 300 kilometers. The “Vision F-Cell” electric powertrain architecture is basically comparable to that of a battery-powered truck – apart from significantly reduced battery power and additional hydrogen tanks.

CO2-neutral production plants in Europe by 2022 – all other plants to follow

In addition, Daimler Trucks & Buses is setting the course for “green” production in Germany and Europe: it is planned that all German and European plants will be supplied by CO2-neutral energy by 2022. All other plants will follow. In concrete terms, this means existing truck and bus plants will only receive their electrical energy from renewable sources. New plants in Europe are planned from the start to have a CO2-neutral energy supply.

Daimler Trucks & Buses: Sustainable corporate strategy

Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz laid the foundation for the modern transport industry more than 120 years ago. Over the past decades the Daimler truck and bus divisions have continuously set standards for the entire transportation industry – in terms of safety, fuel efficiency and driver and passenger comfort. Now it’s time for another evolutionary step: emission-free, automated and connected driving. Daimler Trucks & Buses is working to bring these important technologies to series production across its brands, divisions and regions. In doing so, the company intends to bring its vision of CO2-neutral transport and accident-free driving a major step closer, contributing to the sustainability of global goods and passenger traffic.

Press contacts:

Florian Laudan, Head of Communications Daimler Trucks Asia 
+81 44 330 7970 
florian.laudan@daimler.com