My dears, Nikola lives on at Iveco.
Hylane now has three new Iveco S-eWay Fuel Cell FC tractor units in its fleet. The three 44-tonne trucks from a small series by Iveco join Hylane's existing H2 rental fleet, which now numbers around 100 vehicles.
By Cora Werwitzke
26.05.2025 - 15:30
At the end of February, Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco handed over two fuel cell trucks to a customer for the first time - namely the BMW Group. Now another customer is following with Hylane GmbH. The young company launched in 2021 to boost hydrogen mobility in freight transport with a "pay-per-use" model. The truck rental company now has around 100 fuel cell vehicles in its fleet - including the trio from Iveco.
About the model itself: On paper, the Iveco S-eWay Fuel Cell has a range of up to 800 kilometers, can be refueled in less than 20 minutes and can hold 70 kilograms of compressed hydrogen at 700 bar pressure. The fuel cell on board has an output of 200 kW. The electric axle of the S-eWay Fuel Cell is powered by both the fuel cell system and two centrally installed battery packs; the system output is 400 kW and the permissible total weight is 44 tons. The model is based on the battery-electric S-eWay, which has been delivered since summer 2024, offers a continuous output of 480 kW and, with nine battery packs of 82 kWh each, has a total energy content of 738 kWh. By comparison, the range of the battery version is up to 500 kilometers.
It is important to note that the roots of the fuel cell truck actually go back to 2019. At the time, the now insolvent e-truck start-up Nikola Motor from the USA had allied itself with Iveco for its European launch. However, in May 2023, Iveco announced that it would buy out all of Nikola's shares in a joint venture that had been founded in Ulm in the meantime. The Nikola Tre BEV, which was still being developed together, became the Iveco Heavy Duty BEV and finally the S-eWay series model.
The FC truck is now being produced in small series by the Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer and the first examples are being demonstrated as part of the European H2Haul project - including the trio that has now been accepted by Hylane. The H2Haul project is co-funded by the Clean Hydrogen Partnership and specifically aims to demonstrate the reliability of hydrogen-powered trucks as a viable and locally emission-free solution for European transportation needs.
Against this background, Hylane's cooperation with Iveco goes beyond the purchase of trucks. Both sides are also cooperating on service: "Hylane customers can have maintenance and repair work carried out at a number of selected and certified workshops in the IVECO service network," according to an accompanying press release.
Christian Sulser, CEO of Iveco Magirus AG, commented on the handover of the trio with the following words: "True to our multi-drive approach to decarbonizing road freight transport, we are focusing on all available technologies and fuels to offer our customers the most suitable drive system for their needs. By handing over three fuel cell-electric IVECO S-eWay tractor units to hylane, we are clearly demonstrating our commitment to driving forward the future of locally emission-free logistics in Europe."
Sara Schiffer, Managing Director of hylane, emphasizes: "With the addition of the IVECO S-eWay Fuel Cell tractor units to our fleet, we are further expanding the diversity of our vehicle range in a targeted manner." The addition of the tractor units is an important step towards meeting the strong customer demand for emission-free vehicle solutions in long-distance transport. "As one of the leading providers of zero-emission trucks in Germany, we are delighted to be able to take delivery of vehicles from series production today. We see this early delivery as an expression of confidence in our work and as an opportunity to actively shape the market ramp-up of zero-emission commercial vehicles."
Sara Schiffer explained to us in an interview some time ago how the "pay-per-use" model is intended to activate the market. We also spoke to the Hylane Managing Director about the status quo, the goals, customer acquisition and Germany's position compared to other countries. Interesting to note: Hylane still had around 40 vehicles in its fleet in May 2024 and now has around 100. A year ago, Schiffer set a target of a four-digit number - but without specifying a concrete time horizon. However, she described this target as "the next step".
Source: Information by e-mail
https://www.electrive.net/2025/05/26/neue-lkw-mit-brennstoffzelle-hylane-flottet-iveco-trio-ein/