Fabrica Nacional de Motores is returning to the market to produce battery-electric trucks for Brazil, after shutting operations in 1988, following a new partnership with Octillion Power Systems.
Octillion Power Systems, a provider of lithium-ion batteries, is working with FNM to produce fully electric trucks.
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The collaboration will produce a Class 6 truck with up to 14-ton capacity and a Class 8 lorry with an 18-ton capacity, as well as buses and tractors.
The companies said Octillion will open a local battery factory inside FNM’s facility to lower manufacturing and logistics costs.
FNM was founded in 1942 and was the first truck manufacturer in Brazil. The company was privatised in 1968 by the military government and later bought by Fiat, which closed the factory in 1988. FNM’s headquarters is in Rio de Janeiro.
“The relaunch of FNM trucks not only strengthens the electric truck market in Latin America, but renews a cultural and historical past with a promising future,” said Alberto Martins, a partner in the holding company which owns FNM and who opened the company’s new factory in Caxias do Sul city.
“Octillion’s batteries will propel our electric trucks to the front of the EV market in Latin America. They’ll manufacture the batteries in Brazil and we already have an initial order from a customer for 7,000 trucks, with more orders pending.”
The Octillion battery for FNM trucks supports a range up to 186 miles for urban deliveries, with a cold-water schiller battery refrigeration system.
“We believe these trucks will boost the electric truck market and help Brazil, especially during the pandemic,” said Octillion Power Systems president, Paul Beach.
FNM noted its truck’s telematics systems will connect to customers’ information technology systems.
