Honda is debuting a hydrogen semi truck concept at this year’s Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, an annual expo focusing on clean medium and heavy duty vehicles, next week in Las Vegas.

Honda has been a little slow to electrify, falling behind as has been the case with a lot of Japanese automakers. But under the management of Toshihiro Mibe, who became CEO in April 2021, Honda has started to accelerate.

Along with its release of some new BEVs like the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, both produced in partnership with GM, it has also come out with a unique fuel cell plug-in hybrid version of its CR-V.

And now it’s showing a full-on Class 8 semi truck concept, the heaviest vehicle on the road, powered by hydrogen.

Honda’s fuel cell truck is just a concept so far and quite light on details, but Honda wants to use it as part of a greater hydrogen strategy including commercial vehicles, consumer vehicles, stationary power stations and construction equipment.

Honda released a spec sheet for its concept, though as the vehicle isn’t in production, the numbers would change if it did go into production.

Honda hasn’t given a date for when they plan to bring this to production, and partially says that the reason for that is that it is still looking for production partners to bring it to reality. Honda doesn’t build actual trucks, it’s just looking to supply the fuel cell systems to be used on a truck made by a large truck manufacturer.

Some other major manufacturers have announced hydrogen fuel cell trucks, like Kenworth’s partnership with Toyota to make a hydrogen T680, and Daimler’s GenH2 hydrogen truck.

Honda may be looking for a partnership like Toyota has, with another truck maker (Peterbilt, Mack, or the like).

So far, the main hydrogen truck penetration has come as a result of startups like Nikola, which is already delivering its Tre FCEV and opening its own hydrogen stations.

That said, these are still small efforts compared to the burgeoning battery-electric truck market.

Honda thinks that commercial vehicles like a fuel cell semi truck would help to create demand for hydrogen, and help create a hydrogen economy that would make hydrogen commercial and consumer vehicles more feasible. Right now, there are few hydrogen filling stations and commercial hydrogen is extremely expensive, and Honda hopes that having more vehicles on the road could help to stabilize both of those situations.

ACT Expo happens next week and is full of news for medium and heavy duty vehicles, and our correspondent Jo Borras will be there to bring you news & views from the conference.

Electrek’s Take

It is unlikely that fuel cells will take off in consumer vehicles. However, heavy duty vehicles are different, and may offer a niche that hydrogen can help with.

Batteries do have lower energy density than gasoline, but for consumer vehicles we have reached the point where EVs can be made economically with more than enough range for the vast majority of uses.

That’s not the case with heavy duty vehicles, which are currently quite capable of certain tasks but the cost and weight of batteries can be prohibitive for things like long-haul trucking.

In these cases, we might see a niche where fuel cell electric trucks can see use in the medium term.

But that’s just one issue – the other issues with hydrogen are in creating a hydrogen economy so that hydrogen is reasonably priced, which it currently is not (around ~$30/kg, which is a few times more expensive than diesel per mile at current prices, though this does look like a transitory spike and ~$15/kg is a more “normal” hydrogen price); and in ensuring that hydrogen comes from clean sources, because currently 95% of it comes from methane, which means hydrogen vehicles are still powered almost entirely by fossil fuels (albeit a slightly more clean version of them, but still dirtier than a BEV).

Honda seems to be showing some signs of commitment to solving these problems with hydrogen, as we found out on our first drive of the CR-V e:FCEV, but it seems like there’s a long way to go. Will hydrogen trucks get to that point before BEVs become economical for all uses? We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s going to take a lot of work.

Volkswagen has ended talks with Renault to launch an affordable EV, according to sources. However, a low-cost Volkswagen electric car is still in the plans.

A report from Germany’s Handelsblatt last December hinted at a partnership between Volkswagen and Renault to build an EV under 20,000 euros ($21,500).

The report noted that talks were still in a “very early stage,” but a Renault spokesperson explained that partnering would be necessary to stay competitive. “We are in different discussions, but nothing has been finalized,” the source said.

Renault announced plans to launch the Twingo e-Tech successor, the Legend, last November. The entry-level EV is expected to start at around 20,000 euros ($21,500).

Despite Renault confirming it was in “good discussions” with Volkswagen to build an affordable EV in February, it looks like the automakers may go their separate ways.

According to sources familiar with the matter, VW is walking away from the partnership. A new Reuters report claims Volkswagen has ended talks with Renault to build a low-cost electric version of its Twingo.

Volkswagen and Renault go solo on affordable EVs

Renault plans to continue developing the Twingo EV, which is set to launch in 2026. A VW spokesperson said the company is still looking at options for affordable EVs but declined to comment on the partnership.

The automakers failed to “succeed in finding an agreement,” according to one of the sources. Another source said the two had been very close, but VW walked away after deciding to develop its own affordable electric car.

Renault will continue to build the electric Twingo without VW, a source said but is open to partnering.

Volkswagen sources said a decision on its EV plan is expected within weeks. Meanwhile, VW brand CEO Thomas Shafer confirmed he wants to launch a low-price EV by 2027.

Volkswagen revealed its entry-level EV, the ID 2all, last March. The electric car is “Spacious like a Golf” and “Affordable like a Polo,” according to VW.

The VW ID 2all is expected to start under $27,000 (€25,000). Based on a new entry-level MEB platform, the low-cost EV is expected to get up to 279 miles (450 km) range. Shafer said the ID 2all shows “where we want to take the brand.”

Volkswagen is also reportedly working on an even lower-cost 20,000 euro ($21,700) EV called the ID 1. It will likely pull parts from the ID 2all with smaller (38 or 58 kWh) battery options.

Electrek’s Take

Although the break-up could be a major setback as European automakers look to fend off incoming Chinese rivals like BYD, it doesn’t sound like affordable EVs are off the table.

Volkswagen and Renault are both expected to continue developing low-cost EVs independently, which could help build supply chains for the future. However, they better get moving.

BYD is rapidly expanding after declaring a “liberation battle” against ICE vehicles earlier this year. Its cheapest EV in China, the Seagull, now starts at $9,700 (69,800 yuan).

And BYD isn’t the only one targeting the affordable EV market. Ford, Kia, and several others have all revealed plans to launch low-cost electric models.

Will Volkswagen succeed on its own? Time will tell. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Tesla is reportedly in the early stages of planning to build a data center to train its self-driving AI in China.l

According to a new report from Reuters, Tesla is looking to build a data center for self-driving in China:

As part of that effort, Tesla has been developing plans for a data center in China to train the algorithm needed for more fully autonomous vehicles, according to two people, who asked not to be named because the work remains private.

Following Elon Musk’s recent visit to China, Tesla seems to have made progress toward bringing its ‘Supervised Full Self-Driving’ to the country.

The automaker has reportedly secured conditional approval to deploy the system in the market.

Part of why it reportedly gained this approval is a supposed deal to handle self-driving data in China.

Tesla has had issues with data management in China for a few years. The company’s vehicles were even banned by Chinese authorities at times in certain locations due to fear of spying related to the use of cameras on Tesla’s vehicles and its data management.

When it was reported that Tesla had secured the conditional approval, it was reported that Tesla had satisfied the government’s request regarding data management.

Electrek’s Take

It would make sense if Tesla had appeased the government with its data management; there would be a major local data center in the works.

Tesla is going to need to train its neural nets with a lot of videos from its cars in China in order to adapt its Full Self-Driving neural nets to Chinese roads. It sounded like the government had concerns about these videos making it outside the country.

Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprise if this report turns out to be true.

Electrek previously reported that Tesla plans to build its own ‘first of its kind’ data centers.