“Electric and hydrogen trucks in our future”. Our inteview with Emrah Duman (VP Ford Trucks)

Vice president of Ford Trucks, Emrah Duman is often the frontman of the truck manufacturer at international events such as the IAA. We met him in Hannover and could make some questions about the future plans of the truck maker when it comes to alternative traction and zero-emission vehicles.

Mr Duman, what are the updated Ford Trucks electrification plans for the coming years? Is Ford Trucks working on a tractor, or a chassis cab truck for specific tasks, such as waste collection?

We think that the vehicles for municipalities are the best type for electrification, because users take the same routes every day and they can plan their journey at best. I’m talking about how many hours you need to work, how many batteries you need, where and when to charge. Therefore, we’re prioritizing our solutions on inner city distribution trucks and municipalities. We think it’s still different for road tractors.

Emrah Duman on the new Ford Trucks’ F-Line

Are you referring to the newly-introduced F-Line?

The F-Line rigid truck on display at IAA will be launched on the market next year. Other electric models will follow, based on the evolution of the market itself. When we say market, we mean the whole Europe, where we’re going to sell this vehicle. On the other hand, tractors are in our mind, but we also want to follow the market precisely before launching the models.

Ford Trucks is cooperating with primary partners such as Ballard or Quantron for the development of the first hydrogen-powered truck. Is there a deadline for its release? Can you tell us more about the vehicle’s main features (fuel cell stack type, battery pack, hydrogen tanks…)?

For hydrogen, we’re still trying to understand how’s the scenario evolving. We see two technologies, fuel cell and hydrogen ICE. The latter will be made in house. For fuel cell, we’re following the technologies with some strategic partnerships. This is the way we want to follow.

Trying to figure out the future of the company’s offer

How do you see Ford Trucks’ offer in the coming years, let’s say by the end of the decade?

For sure, in our portfolio we’ll have the availability of electric trucks, as well as hydrogen solutions. Predicting percentages is not easy at all. It depends on the availability of infrastructure, for example, especially in the case of hydrogen. Customers need to know that they can return their investments in a certain amount of time. Trucks are much different than cars. Our customers need to take their decisions based on mathematical calculations, and we need to be sure zero-emission trucks will be a suitable solution also economically.