Travelling to the Biggest Truck Show in the World with Daimler

In-depth

1 Oct

We, the Aussie and Kiwi truck journalists are running up and down the train platform looking for the first class carriage.

We are at Wessel in northern Germany and have had to change trains on the trip from Frankfurt to Hanover.

The Germans, world renowned for their exemplary engineering and supposed efficiency, have let us down badly on the train front. Upon leaving Frankfurt we crawled up the track for some kilometres before coming to a stop and staying put for well over an hour.

Our group has become separated and as we have reserved seats we are trying to find our Daimler host. Then my travelling companion’s watch rings.

Now, I knew you can buy watches that can make phone calls and take photos and God knows do what else. I just can’t afford one. We finally find a spot – any spot on this overcrowded train - all thoughts of of finding our reserved seats having gone out the window.

Talking to people later in the day it appears that the entire North German rail system had turned to chaos. The three hour trip which would have had us arriving in Hanover at midday stretched out to five - and that was on trains capable of travelling at 230 km/h, which they did at times. It’s a bit weird leaning nonchalantly on the wall of the little tunnel between carriages at that speed. But there I am filling in time by thinking about that ‘watch’ phone call and how far we’ve come on the technological front.

**Passing the German countryside at 230Kph**

To the young – how young I’m not so certain – this is just part of everyday life and is accepted without question.

For me? I’m remembering the Dick Tracy comic strip in the newspaper back in the 1950’s, where this detective would talk to headquarters via his wristwatch. Back then – and it’s not that long ago really – these were things that dreams were made of, if indeed you dared to dream that big. Phones that do what the current generation can just simply never entered the brain’s thought patterns.

The mobile phone bricks when they first came out were mind blowing, much less being able to watch TV and make video calls across the world. Mobiles got smaller and smaller, and then got bigger again to envelop evolving technology and the screens to do the aforementioned on.

Strange really. We go out and buy 70, 80 or 100 inch screens to place on the wall in our homes but we are more than happy to sit and watch a movie on something that is 6 ½ inches wide.

So there we were running down the platform, my mate’s phone rings and he answers it on his watch. Too hard to pull a phone out. Dick Tracy would have been proud.

**Common Euro set up – except this one is electric**

All this is simply an illustration of how quickly the world can change and don’t for one minute ever imagine that something you believe to be impossible today will be tomorrow.

90% of you ridicule electric trucks apart from some grudging acceptance that they may play a role in last mile delivery. Anything bigger than that, yeah – nah. I guarantee you that within the next 5 to 10 years you’ll be eating whatever disparaging words you spewed forth.

At Daimler’s opening night at the IAA – the world’s biggest truck show in Hanover, Germany the emphasis was on both electric and hydrogen. How big and how important is this emphasis?

It is important enough for Daimler to book out an entire hotel and invite journalists and the like from around the world to come look see. It is important enough for their exhibition hall at the IAA to be equal in size to maybe 15 truck stands at the Brisbane truck show. It is important enough for them to spend $billions (I can’t find the sign for a Deutschmark or Euro on my computer) in developing these emerging technologies.

To their credit - and given the money they have expended you could forgive them for talking on and on - the opening-night presentation was delightfully brief, given over to the Mercedes-Benz eActros, Fuso eCanter and buses.

Taking centre stage and unveiled to the world was the latest Actros 4 x 2 prime mover, electric of course and capable of travelling 500 km. It might not seem much in the Australian context but in European terms this range will satisfy the requirements of many, many transport companies.

**Yep, trailers are going to be electric – batteries and motors.**

So I know you are going to snort with derision say to yourself, “not for us.”

Go back to my opening remarks about the development of technology with mobile phones and watches and then kick yourself up the bum for being so disbelieving.

Doesn’t really matter anyway because the day will come when you won’t have a choice what you get behind the wheel of because the whole world will be using alternative fuels.

However all is not lost for those of you who cannot see beyond the haze of diesel fumes and black smoke. There is hope and that hope lies with Fuel Cell Technology and hydrogen. Hydrogen will give the range that electric cannot currently match. You will be able to refuel in the same amount of time that you currently do. And your teenage greenie daughter and hippie son will love you because all you will be leaving behind is good old H2O. I did hear mention that this would possibly emanate in the form of steam. My retort was that if they could colour that steam black, it may satisfy the most diehard diesel enthusiast. If they can do what they currently are at Daimler, black steam should be a breeze. Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler didn’t laugh at my suggestion.