Daimler, Volvo and Traton Plan $600 Million Electric Truck-Charging Joint Venture

From Reuters via Nasdaq, July 5:

• Daimler, Volvo, Traton invest 167 mln eur each to form JV
• Outside partners invited to join once it is set up
• JV to install at least 1,700 charging points over 5 years

Adds CEOs quotes

FRANKFURT, July 5 (Reuters) - Three major European truck manufacturers - Daimler Trucks DAIGn.DE, AB Volvo VOLVb.ST and Traton 8TRA.DE - said on Monday they plan to form a joint venture (JV) to develop an electric battery-charging network for long-haul trucks and buses.

Charging infrastructure expansion has been a central hurdle to the mass adoption of battery-powered vehicles, with the lack of expansion fuelling so-called range anxiety, the fear of not having enough charging spots to make the trip.

"The key ingredient in the future rolling-out of electric vehicles will be the infrastructure. It will be the big bottleneck," Martin Daum, chief executive of Daimler Trucks, to be spun off from Daimler later this year, told Reuters....

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