IVECO delivers 1,000th Stralis NP 400hp truck to VERBIO, creating Germany’s first CO2 neutral fleet

Monday 15th January 2018

IVECO has supplied five Stralis NP trucks to VERBIO Logistik GmbH (a subsidiary of VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie AG), which will run the new vehicles on biomethane generated from straw, taking a significant step towards CO? neutral transport in heavy goods vehicles. This supply also marks an important milestone for IVECO: the 1,000th Stralis NP delivered.

The five IVECO Stralis NPs will be fuelled by biomethane produced in VERBIO’s own plant in Schwedt, achieving a 90% reduction in CO?, as well as a significant decrease in particulate matter and NOx emissions compared to conventional diesel trucks. With these vehicles, VERBIO is launching Germany’s first CO? neutral heavy transport fleet.

“VERBIO is a key customer for us in the area of alternative traction with natural gas, because their fuel comes from a renewable source. We strongly believe that biogas is the new hydrogen! VERBIO’s choice of the Stralis NP for their fleet clearly shows that, with biogas, heavy transport can be carbon-neutral and profitable today,” said Pierre Lahutte, IVECO Brand President, speaking at the handover of the vehicles in Schwedt.

To match its plans for the five IVECO Stralis NP trucks, VERBIO has selected the 400 hp mono-fuel CNG version. With two fuel tanks containing 920 litres of CNG or biomethane, this configuration has a range up to 570 km. The new Stralis NP vehicles have been equipped with high-performance hydraulics that make it possible to seamlessly integrate them into an existing trailer fleet with moving floor technology. The Stralis NP trucks have the double advantage of their excellent environmental performance together with extremely quiet operation, as their noise level is 50% lower than their diesel counterparts, both while driving and in power take-off (PTO) mode.

“The IVECO Stralis CNG trucks are a logical and up-to-date expansion of our vehicle fleet. This fleet of around 80 trucks already includes 12 dual-fuel trucks, which are powered by diesel and CNG/biomethane. The mono-fuel CNG/biomethane traction of the five new IVECO vehicles enables even greater CO2 and cost efficiency. With the 400 hp Stralis NP model, IVECO is providing a powerful machine that meets our requirements for heavy bulk goods transport not just in terms of climate protection, but also with regards to feasibility and profitability,” said Bernd Sauter, COO of Procurement & Logistics at VERBIO.

As a heavy truck, the New Stralis NP competes on a level playing field with its diesel equivalents on performance and Total Cost of Ownership, while delivering the most sustainable performance in the market. It is the first natural gas truck specifically designed for long-haul operations and the only one that can run on natural gas to deliver the power rating, comfort, transmission technology and fuel autonomy to suit long-distance haulage missions, with a range of up to 1,600 km.

VERBIO produces biomethane on an industrial scale from straw and residues using technology developed in-house. The end product, verbiogas, is used as a biofuel across Germany for CNG vehicles in the private, public and commercial sectors.