The Next Electric Steps for Fuso -

We already have the Fuso eCanter working on Australian streets, but when and what are the next electric steps for Fuso?

When asked by PowerTorque about the electrification process moving up through the weight range for Fuso, Karl Deppen, who is CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Bus and Truck Corporation and Head of Daimler Truck Asia. would not be drawn into making any firm commitments.

“We are currently having a discussion about how we want to extend the Fuso lineup into the medium duty and heavy duty segment for zero emission transportation,” said Karl.” However, the technology path is more difficult to determine in the medium duty segment which is rather small in scale and highly competitive.

“We are currently assessing whether to go for battery electric or hydrogen based solutions. It depends on the infrastructure development in the various markets around the world. It’s too early to make any specific announcement but, rest assured, we are carefully watching how to proceed in the medium duty segment, going forward.

“We have to set priorities and, we want to start with light duty, because this is where we see the immediate benefit in urban transportation. It’s the locally-based zero emission vehicle, it’s a reduction of noise, it’s the safety we bring to city deliveries, now the next step is to look at the other segments.”

Currently all the eCanters coming to Australia have been built in Tramagal in Portugal. As demand in the Asian market grows for these trucks, production is set to move to Japan. The market conditions mean there is enough demand to justify tooling up a bigger facility than the plant in Portugal.

“We know, as we move to the next generation, we need to have full flexibility in all our plants and and service markets like Australia with deliveries from Japan,” says Karl. “That is our intention.”

Karl considers there are three preconditions which need to exist before the purchase of an electric truck can take place and outlines them to us.

“I think infrastructure is really a big part of the equation,” says Karl. “No matter which markets we look at, we always need three ingredients to be in place. One is product availability, second is the infrastructure we need and the third one is to make an appealing business case for the customer, when comparing the truck with diesel.

“The infrastructure is always a piece of the equation that is needed. We think with the eCanter we have an appealing offer because it is well capable of utilising the AC charging network, which makes it much easier to charge. There are some sacrifices in time, but usually, if the vehicle is in the depot overnight, the AC charging is sufficient to get a usable range for the next day.

“This is different from medium or heavy duty trucks where much more powerful charging is needed, where the demand on the grid is much higher. Infrastructure is somewhat of a concern. Nevertheless, we are convinced with the light duty eCanter, we are at least offering a product that helps to make it possible to gain some experience with an electric truck.”

As the demand for electric mobility increases, infrastructure development will have to move forward. It’s another chicken and egg scenario, if you have no electric vehicles, you don’t need infrastructure and if there is no infrastructure, you have no electric vehicles. The only answer is to bring trucks like the eCanter in as it can cope with the existing infrastructure and this should stimulate infrastructure to develop over time.

Buying an eCanter

“The practice we’ve applied in all the markets is to lease out the eCanter first generation,” says Karl. “With the next generation we will go to the full range of different purchase, financing and leasing options that customers are used to. In addition to that we have designed attractive packages to combine things, like the product, vehicle maintenance and service support. To really build it up in Japan, we also offer energy contracts.

“When we hit Australia, we are discussing with the sales team there, how are we going to open the flexibility for customers to find the best package for them.

“The future energy roadmap is not the same, it depends a lot on access to fossil fuels, energy, access to hydrogen processing and production. We see different roadmaps in different countries, but we also see this as a very dynamic development. The key point is to stay flexible, to be responsive.”