Navistar, VW pursue common electric powertrain, global connectivity platform

At the inaugural North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) Show in late September, Navistar president and CEO Troy Clarke signaled an acceleration of new product offerings and integrations stemming from its partnership with Volkswagen Truck & Bus. Chief among these activities, he said, is to converge the two companies' connectivity activities and to develop an electric-powered, medium-duty truck for the U.S. and Canada by late 2019 or early 2020.

“Our alliance with Volkswagen Truck & Bus is allowing us to move much more quickly into electric propulsion thanks to our ability to leverage their technology investments and components in segments of the market where we're already a leader,” Clarke said. “We believe the Class 6/7 vehicle is ideal for electric powertrain solutions in the near term, given its abundance of packaging space, and that these vehicles typically run short distances and can depot to recharge at the end of the day.”