A barrel of fun

The entire commercial vehicle world is ready to meet in Hanover, Germany, from September 25 until October 2, at the IAA International Motor Show, which is set to have 322 world premiers. The show is, however, about a lot more than new product launches …

One of the highlights at the IAA will be the 21 electric vehicles, from 12 exhibitors, that can be test driven around the show grounds. Visitors will have a chance to test the new e-load up! from VW, several electrically powered buses, vans and – for the first time – trucks too.

Show organiser Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA) – or, in English, the German Association of the Automotive Industry – states that these vehicles are intended to show visitors that electric mobility has everyday applications. It will also give them a first-hand impression of the advantages of this technology.

Ebusco, VDL, Ziehl-Abegg and Bozankaya will be providing buses. Solaris will make an electric articulated bus available.

The van sector will be represented by Orten and Iveco and StreetScooter is bringing its “Work” box-body van.

In addition, Iveco will demonstrate its Stralis 18 t. Hüffermann will have a MAN TGL 12 t available. The electric test drives will take place, every day, during the trade fair, from 09:00 to 18:00 – starting at the open-air site to the south of the Convention Centre.

Visitors to the IAA can also discover how well light and heavy commercial vehicles perform in practice by trying them out on public roads. A wide variety of manufacturers are providing vehicles, including some innovations, for test drives.

A total of 55 vehicles will be available. The participating manufacturers and suppliers include HIAB, Continental Aftermarket, Stoneridge, Eaton, Ebusco, Ford, Hunger Frankenberg, Anadolu Isuzu, Iveco Magirus, MAN, Nissan, Orten, tedrive and Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge.

The light and heavy commercial vehicle test drives will start from the open-air site to the west of Hall 27. They are scheduled for every exhibition day from 9:00 to 18:00.

Another highlight will be the Innovation Stage, where numerous exhibitors will present their most important innovations in action. The focus will be on topics such as vehicle and driver safety, innovative drive train and fuel concepts, transport efficiency, transportation systems, load securing as well as vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.