Octillion Power Systems, a provider of advanced lithium-ion batteries, is working with FNM to produce fully electric trucks.
After supplying FNM with prototypes, Octillion has been selected as FNM’s official battery supplier. The two companies announced that Octillion will open a local battery factory inside FNM’s facility to lower manufacturing and logistics costs. The collaboration will produce the FNM model 832, a Class 6 truck with up to 14-ton capacity, and the FNM model 833, a Class 8 truck with an 18-ton capacity – plus buses and tractors as the next step.
“We believe these trucks will boost the electric truck market and help Brazil, especially during the pandemic,” says Paul Beach, president of Octillion Power Systems. “FNM has an incredible history, and the company and its vehicles are essential to Brazil, its people and the green economy. With the help of our advanced battery technology, FNM will be able to successfully launch its new platform and advance the commercial truck market in the country.”
Octillion and FNM are working together to create sustainable electric trucks with favorable total cost of ownership for real economically feasible and sustainable fleets. The Octillion battery at FNM trucks supports a range up to 300 km. for urban deliveries, with a cold-water schiller battery refrigeration system.
FNM was founded in 1942 and was the first truck manufacturer in Brazil. The company was privatized in 1968 by the military government, and later bought by Fiat, who closed the factory in 1988.
FNM’s trucks will use niobium in various components – such as the chassis, brakes, suspension, wheels, and certain other parts and structural elements – to reduce the vehicle’s weight and increase its strength, performance and range. FNM says their trucks telematics systems will connect to customer’s information technology systems as well as to the factory to provide real-time efficiency and safety data.