In the coming years, the Daimler Group also wants to get more involved with combustion engines in trucks. Already at the IAA, the company made a stir – on the subject of passenger cars.
“Carbon-neutral transport on the roads by 2050 is our ultimate goal,” said Martin Daum, head of Daimler Trucks and Buses, at the German Logistics Congress in Berlin. Daimler is thus committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Since a complete fleet renewal takes about ten years, CO2-neutral new vehicles should be sold from 2039 on the major markets of Europe, North America and Japan. “It is our ambition that by 2039, all our new vehicles in Europe should be” tank-to-wheel “- that is, when driving – CO2-neutral,” the manager announced.
There will be battery-powered production vehicles in all core regions by 2022 and by the end of the decade hydrogen-powered trucks and buses, ie fuel cells. The company is convinced that both technologies, electric and hydrogen drive, coexist and complement each other well. In view of the worldwide increase in transport volumes, the industry must act. “We must not stay in the ‘continue like this’, wait for further regulatory pressure and let us drift into a corner.”
Also in the long term more expensive
Even in 2040, the cost of ownership and ownership of trucks and electric buses should still be higher than that of diesel vehicles. “This market will not just come into being – it has to be done.” It therefore also required “government intervention”, such as a Europe-wide staggering of toll costs by CO2 value. Daum also encouraged a funding program for the development of a nationwide charging and hydrogen infrastructure.
At the IAA, Daimler development chief Markus Schaefer had said that his company after the latest generation of combustion engine would not develop any further. The development efforts will focus on electrification, electric drives and battery development.
