IAA Transportation 2026 opened in Hanover, Germany, with 1,589 exhibitors from 46 countries, in what its organizers described as the most international edition in the exhibition’s history, with five more countries than in the 2024 edition. The six-day event showcases a clear transformation in the commercial-vehicle market: electric trucks are no longer isolated experimental models, but production products with ranges and payload capacities aimed at real-world operations.
Volvo Trucks is participating with four heavy electric trucks—the FH, FH Aero, FM, and FMX—which have received the 2027 International Truck of the Year award, with their range, efficiency, and expanded operating scope highlighted. MAN, meanwhile, is displaying a lineup ranging from the 12-tonne eTGL to the 50-tonne eTGX; the eTGX’s stated range reaches 660 kilometres in a 4×2 configuration and 720 kilometres in a 6×2 configuration equipped with an additional battery.
Electricity Enters the Long-Haul Transport Sector
Renault Trucks is displaying the E-Tech T 780, with a stated range of up to 660 kilometres, featuring an electric axle and high-energy-density batteries designed to help preserve payload capacity. Daimler Truck is also displaying the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600, with the company saying that customers have covered more than 160 million kilometres with it since its launch at the end of 2024. Its stated range reaches 560 kilometres in its most efficient configurations at a gross vehicle and trailer weight of 40 tonnes, alongside the eActros Lowliner model for operations subject to dimensional and payload-capacity constraints.
Electricity is not limited to heavy trucks. Stellantis Pro One is presenting 13 vehicles from Citroën, Fiat Professional, Opel, and Peugeot, in addition to the NEXT fleet-operation and connectivity-services system. Kia is also displaying the electric PV7 truck, while Renault and Stellantis are introducing new electric commercial vehicles for the European market, and Ford Pro is displaying electric and plug-in hybrid models within its commercial lineup.
Hydrogen Does Not Offer a Single Solution
Manufacturers, by contrast, are treating hydrogen as a complementary path rather than a uniform alternative to batteries. Daimler Truck is developing fuel-cell trucks that, according to the company, have covered around 600,000 kilometres in customer operations, and it plans to place 100 next-generation trucks with customers starting at the end of 2026. The NextGenH2 Truck relies on liquid hydrogen, with a range exceeding 1,000 kilometres and rapid refuelling aimed at long-distance transport.
Volvo is developing fuel-cell trucks as well as trucks with hydrogen-combustion engines, while Toyota is providing fuel-cell technologies drawing on more than 30 years of experience. Bosch is showcasing components and fuelling technologies for gaseous and liquid hydrogen, saying that its fuel-cell systems have covered more than 30 million kilometres on the road.
What Is Changing in Practice?
The exhibition’s most important feature is the variety of solutions, not the resolution of the competition in favour of a single technology. Electric trucks require high-power charging, energy management, and better use of limited grid capacity, while hydrogen requires a production and distribution network and stations capable of serving fleets. Air Liquide, TotalEnergies, TEAL Mobility, and MB Energy are working with manufacturers on proposed stations that could serve up to 100 trucks per day. In Germany, the latest funding-program applications included more than 70 high-capacity hydrogen stations and around 800 heavy trucks, according to the participating companies.
Intermediate solutions are also emerging, such as the ZF TraXon Hybrid system, winner of the 2027 Truck Innovation Award, which integrates an electric motor into the transmission, and MAHLE’s range-extender system, which adds electrical power when needed rather than merely enlarging the battery. These options indicate that the type of operation, distance, payload, and energy availability will determine the appropriate technology for each fleet.
certi.news analysis: What has truly changed is the transition of commercial-transport electrification from the technology-demonstration stage to large-scale operational testing. However, the source does not yet establish the economic or operational superiority of any single solution; the speed at which these vehicles spread will remain linked to infrastructure, energy sources, operating costs, and the ability of grids and fuelling stations to keep pace with the numbers of vehicles being presented.