Toyota is promoting the use of its hydrogen fuel cell and lithium-ion EV battery pack technology beyond passenger cars, including heavy-duty trucks, small delivery trucks, ships, and passenger cars. To achieve this, Toyota is forming partnerships with several European equipment makers that share the same hydrogen vision.
Daimler Bus: Hydrogen-electric dual-track drive, all bus products will achieve zero emissions by 2030.
After Audi, the European auto giant Daimler has also become a customer of Toyota’s fuel Battery Pack technology, and Toyota’s “circle of friends” in Europe has further expanded.
Toyota Europe (TME) is understood to be supplying its Toyota Fuel Cell Module (TCM) for the Mercedes-Benz eCitaro Range Extender, a new city bus from Daimler Buses, a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks. As a result, Daimler Buses became the second OEM in Europe to purchase Toyota Fuel Battery Pack modules.
Daimler eCitaro’s fuel cell system: Toyota’s flat module system on the roof.
Daimler earlier announced to abandon the development of the best battery for EV cars fuel cell in the field of passenger cars, but still, in the field of commercial vehicles, Daimler is still accelerating the application and development of fuel cell technology. The cooperation between Daimler and Toyota shows that Daimler is still discussing the application of fuel cells in commercial vehicles; the second is that Toyota is still implementing the strategy of “technology opening” in the field of fuel cells to expand the fuel cell vehicles market; third, in the eyes of international leading car companies, pure electric vehicles have not yet fully met the technical needs of commercial vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles still have considerable room for imagination; fourth, even internationally, the fuel cell market is more ” co-opetition” rather than pure competition.
Till Oberwrder, Head of Daimler Buses, said: “We have made a clear commitment: from 2030 at the latest, we will offer only carbon-neutral new cars in the European bus market and will not invest in Euro 7 technology. Development work is entirely focused on the zero-emission and all-electric eCitaro.”
Daimler’s dual-track drive strategy shows that pure electric Vehicle Battery has not yet been able to meet the needs of commercial vehicles, especially in the intercity field, and there is still a lot of market imagination for fuel cells in the field of commercial hybrid EV battery packs. As the world’s leading EV battery pack supplier, Daimler’s attitude is critical to market confidence.