Gaussin has announced that its new range of trucks for road applications will have cabs designed by Italian design house Pininfarina. The cab design will integrate on what Gaussin calls the world’s first 100% hydrogen or all-electric “skateboard” for Class 8 tractor and straight trucks ranging from 18 to 44 t (19.8 and 48.5 ton). The intelligent, autonomous-ready, modular, commercial vehicle platform can be powered by hydrogen, batteries, or a combination of the two.
Initial models will be Class 8 44-t (4×2, 6×4) tractors with up to 1200 km (745 mi), combining electric and hydrogen energy; rigid trucks for distribution in cities, construction, and waste management; and even a Gaussin H2 Racing Truck. Pininfarina says it is leveraging its experience in sustainable mobility to create a distinctive design identity for the range to enhance the main values of the products—performance and sustainability.
“The cab has to be aligned with the new-mobility needs,” said Christophe Gaussin, CEO of Gaussin. “It must be the link between the driver and his mission, between the truck and its environment. It has to be clean, safe, friendly but also intelligent to perform at a high level of efficiency. And it has to have a signature that lasts over time. Pininfarina has not only designed a modern and great-looking cab but has created a transgenerational story. This is exactly why we have chosen to collaborate with Pininfarina.”
“Pininfarina Group is deeply involved in designing customer journeys and unique user experiences merging physical and digital worlds through aesthetics and technology,” said Kevin Rice, Chief Creative Officer, Pininfarina. “We are convinced that the combination of our know-how will lead to the success of the new range of trucks developed by Gaussin.”
Focus on road trucks
The modular rolling platform coincided with the creation of a Gaussin subsidiary dedicated to the road-truck sector for long- and short-haul applications. The solution is aimed at traditional truck manufacturers, new entrants, as well as bodybuilders and autonomous navigation software providers wanting access to hydrogen and/or electric platform for clean and intelligent transport. To accelerate time-to-market, Gaussin plans a global rollout as early as 2021 through an assembly and marketing licensing program.
Key skateboard components and systems include an ultra-light chassis developed by Magna that is said to weigh 400 kg (882 lb) less than other chassis on the market, as well as hydrogen tanks, fuel cells, electric motors, drives, axles, and suspensions.
The skateboard tractor and carrier are available in two versions. The long-distance hydrogen version has a refueling time of less than 20 min for a range of 800 km (497 mi). An all-electric version for short distances boasts a battery change time of 3 min for a range of 400 km (249 mi). Global road-truck makers will be able to access the platforms this year to integrate their own cabs, software, and equipment configurations.
Gaussin engineered the platform as an “open” design to facilitate mechanical and software integration. The company’s ambition is to become the reference platform for the road truck market by developing a large community of technological, regional, and commercial partners—and by facilitating its integration through documentation, training, and standardization of the various mechanical and software interfaces. Examples of technologies integrated into the skateboard to facilitate its adoption include a universal plate to attach equipment to the skateboard and an open interface for external autonomous driving software.
The objective of the Gaussin road-truck subsidiary is to produce the skateboard through a network of licensees to accelerate its global deployment. The company has an ambitious program of 41 licenses over 36 months to enable it to capture 5%—or cumulative sales of 450,000 vehicles—of the clean-energy truck market by 2031.
“Gaussin has created a versatile platform enabling the various players in the sector to achieve an extremely rapid time-to-market,” said Jean-Claude Bailly, Managing Director, Truck & Bus Division, Gaussin. “The solution will enable them to save precious time in project development, at a time when the heavy goods vehicle market is changing rapidly and innovation is a key differentiating factor, more than ever.”
Electrification and intelligence from Microvast and Nvidia
Gaussin has announced a few partnerships aimed at accelerating its road-truck initiative through advancement in electrification and compute power.
Earlier this month the company announced a partnership with Microvast, a leading provider of next-generation battery technologies for commercial and specialty vehicles that recently announced a planned business combination with Tuscan Holdings Corp. With its vertical integration capabilities, Microvast says it can provide a range of cell chemistries for its battery packs that fulfill diverse technical requirements in terms of power, energy density, and cycle life.
The high-level modularity of Microvast batteries gives Gaussin flexibility in vehicle design. Microvast believes that the fast-charging capability, high energy density, and safety features of its battery solutions can meet the surging demands from major logistics companies that want to shorten charging durations and prolong charging intervals.
The partners expect to start building in mid-2021 the first prototypes in both fully electric and hydrogen versions to test vehicle performance. Microvast will first supply its off-the-shelf MV-C battery pack and then offer an upgrade option through its MV-I battery pack with an energy density of more than 180 W·h/kg.
One hydrogen version of the Gaussin skateboard is a hybrid system that uses high-power batteries in combination with fuel cells to provide the necessary power under varied conditions, with the driving range extended to almost 400 km thanks to the battery power.
The first prototypes are planned to be presented to the major fleet and e-commerce companies in the U.S. and Europe.
Gaussin has also selected Nvidia’s Drive AGX Xavier platform delivering 30 TOPS (trillion operations per second) to power the road-truck skateboard’s centralized intelligent driving system. At the platform’s core is the first production auto-grade Xavier SoC (system-on-a-chip), which incorporates six different types of processors including a central processing unit, graphics processing unit, deep learning accelerator, programmable vision accelerator, image signal processor, and stereo/optical flow accelerator.
The high compute capability allowed Gaussin to centralize it on the skateboard architecture. It facilitates systems integration and enables AI-powered solutions using a single framework and interface. The platform concept extends to the software through a dedicated application programming interface to rapidly develop tailored applications.
In addition to the integration of Drive technology, Gaussin plans to look at leveraging other Nvidia solutions for its autonomous system applications that include driving tasks, robotic arms, and shipping yard management. Specifically, it plans to transition to Nvidia’s Drive Orin for additional higher performance compute capabilities enabling Level 4 autonomy.
First skateboard contract
Just a month after revealing its road-truck skateboard, Gaussin announced its first contract with ECT and Bouygues Construction’s Energies & Services division for the development of hydrogen transportation solutions in the public works sector. ECT will work with Bouygues to develop a 2-MW renewable hydrogen production and distribution station and with Gaussin on design and implementation studies for three types of Gaussin hydrogen trucks intended for two applications.
“This first contract for Gaussin’s modular hydrogen and electric skateboard and its version for public works carriers and tractors comes less than a month after the official presentation of this revolutionary vehicle,” said Gaussin. “It very satisfying to see the emergence of the first application in a sector as important as public works.”
The first application is for an internal on-site transport consisting of a dozen 10×4, 70-ton (77.1-ton) tipper vehicles with partial 10-h autonomy and a 10×4 tipper carrier in an autonomous version without a cabin that can carry an additional 25% payload. The external application for road transport to the site involves several 4×2, 44-ton tractors with a range of 500 km (310 mi). The partners expect the first vehicles to be commissioned in 2022.
ECT’s core business is the environmental redevelopment of degraded sites, with the objective of redesigning the landscape with an environmental, agricultural, or social focus. The redevelopments are circular-economy oriented, with the reuse of excavated earth from construction sites. The soil is transported and used by transport and construction machinery. Bouygues brings its expertise in the production of renewable hydrogen and in the distribution of the fuel for existing industrial needs.
The aim is for the large-scale deployment of these solutions. The project should enable the production of a heavy-truck model dedicated to the public works sector with a competitive sales price. The eligible fleet for a model of this type represents several hundred units.
The partners are looking to help create a hydrogen mobility sector and to arouse the interest of others in the sector for the larger scale development of sustainable transportation. For instance, the tractor market in France represents a volume of approximately 30,000 units per year.
“The signing of this cooperation protocol is an essential step towards the creation of a clean and responsible public works sector,” said Laurent Mogno, President, ECT.
“We are convinced that hydrogen is an essential lever for decarbonizing transportation,” added Caroline Mazzoleni, Director of New Renewable Energies, Bouygues Energies & Services. “Through this cooperation protocol, we want to leverage our expertise in the installation, maintenance, and operation of production plants and green hydrogen stations, with the high level of service required to satisfy our customers.”
