Mercedes-Benz wins 2021 Truck Innovation Award

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has won the 2021 edition of the Truck Innovation Award for its battery-electric eActros and GenH2 hydrogen fuel cell concept truck. 

The prestigious award was handed over to Daimler Truck AG board of management chairman Martin Daum and product engineering head Sven Ennerst at the company’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. 

The Truck Innovation trophy, which acknowledges both the enormous technological changes and the energy transition that are taking place within the automotive sector, was awarded by the International Truck of the Year (IToY) jury, a group of 25 commercial vehicle editors and senior journalists, representing major trucking magazines from Europe and South Africa. 

With a winning score of 128 votes, Mercedes-Benz’s electric trucks fought off the competition from Volvo Trucks’ heavy-duty BEV concepts and DAF’s second generation CF Electric. 

The jury, who had the chance to get to know the previous prototype of the eActros and the latest closer-to-the-series-production-vehicle, praised the handling characteristics of the battery-powered truck in distribution applications and its performance in terms of acceleration and driveability. 

The IToY journalists praised the user-friendliness for a quick and easy transition from a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle. 

Finally, jury members appreciated Mercedes-Benz Trucks comprehensive approach to electro-mobility, based on a clear-cut long-term strategy, on a global modular electric powertrain platform and on in-house development of main critical components. 

It’s a wide-range solution portfolio, which spans from the pre-production eActros to the battery powered eActros long haul, to the fuel-cell liquid-hydrogen concept GenH2 truck for long-haulage applications.

International Truck of the Year chairman Gianenrico Griffini summed up the jury vote. 

“Shaping CO2 neutral transport requires the swift development of battery-electric and fuel cell trucks,” he says. 

“This development needs to be supported by a long-term electro-mobility strategy, which is precisely what Mercedes-Benz Trucks is doing.” 

According to IToY rules, a Truck Innovation Award nominee must be an advanced-technology vehicle with a gross vehicle weight over 3.5-tonnes either fitted with an alternative driveline or have an alternative fuel-system. Otherwise, it must feature specific high-tech solutions with regard to connectivity (whether semi or fully autonomous driving systems) a ‘platooning’ capability, or advanced support services such as remote diagnostics. 

Daimler Trucks was the first manufacturer worldwide to present a heavy-duty electric truck with a concept for urban distribution in 2016. 

In 2018, the eActros prototype premiered and intensive customer trials started the same year. The series-production eActros is planned for 2021 and will have a range of over 200 kilometres. 

In September 2020, Daimler Trucks presented the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, a fuel cell concept truck for a range of up to 1000 kilometres and more in its series version, for demanding long-haul transport. Customer trials are planned to begin in 2023 and the start of series production is planned for the second half of this decade.

Daum says his team was honoured to receive the award and be recognised for its innovation. 

“This is strong affirmation that we’re on the right track with our strategy clearly focusing on genuinely locally CO2-neutral technologies: battery power and hydrogen-based fuel cells. 

“This combination enables us to offer our customers the best vehicle options, depending on the application. With the eActros, we have demonstrated in recent years that locally CO2-neutral urban distribution is already possible today. And with our GenH2 Truck, we have additionally presented our specific concept for heavy-duty fuel-cell trucks to perform flexible and demanding long-distance haulage,” Daum says.