Daimler ponders how to power its heavy vehicles in the future, says diesel remains best solution

German luxury and utility vehicle producer Daimler is weighing its options as it searches for the best possible engine for its heavy-duty vehicles in the future, testing potential solutions like electric engines, hydrogen, synthetic and natural gas, hybrid, an even the traditional diesel, the newspaper Die Welt reports. At a so-called “Future Fair” organised at one of Daimler’s truck manufacturing plants, the company presented different options for meeting the EU’s vehicle emissions limits for 2030. Stefan Buchner, head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, said hybrid engines are no solution for heavy-duty vehicles as they cannot be used in an economically viable way, arguing that traditional diesel engines still have an untapped emissions reduction potential of 10 to 20 percent. The company also wants to expand the use of e-trucks, but the scale of this approach remains unclear and will make the German carmaker more dependent on battery suppliers from abroad. Roland Dold, responsible for vehicle development at Daimler Trucks, said that diesel trucks remain far superior to electric trucks when it comes to energy efficiency, arguing that a truck filled with 224 litres of diesel fuel would have the same range as an e-truck with an eight-tonne battery.

Read the article in German here and a speech on Daimler’s performance strategy by truck branch head Buchner in English here.

For background, read the factsheet Reluctant Daimler plans “radical” push into new mobility world.