By Ilaria Grasso Macola
Electric and hydrogen truck maker Tevva has expanded operations beside the UK borders, announcing on Monday its strategy for mainland Europe.
It also unveiled its newest 19tn model.
The Essex-based “scale up” will start exporting its electric HGVs – which unlike competitors also have a reserve of hydrogen to boost range extension – to main markets such as Germany and France from early next year.
“We are ready to sell and deliver trucks to customers both in the UK and in mainland Europe,” chief executive and founder Asher Bennett told City A.M. during an interview.
The company will initially manufacture products at its Tilbury factory, as plans to open a plant in Europe are underway, but the location still remains unknown.
When in full production, the River Thames Freeport facility will make about 3,000 electric lorries per year – covering the UK’s needs.
“We’re getting into a lot of detail on many different issues – including the cost of logistics in different locations and availability of talent,” Bennett said. “[But] we hope to be in production by the end of next year.”
According to the chief executive, Tevva can scale up in different markets due to its production strategy.
Tevva’s low-capex model allows it to have a “better adaptation to the local market,” in addition to avoiding some of the main issues plaguing the automotive industry.
It also avoids needless emissions, one of the core tenets of Tevva’s philosophy.
“We don’t think it’s very green to ship trucks around the world unnecessarily,” the chief executive added.
The expansion into Europe is the first of several steps, as Tevva is eyeing operations in the US and, more recently, the Middle East.
In the US, the electric truck maker has already shortlisted a few states in which base its operations while it’s currently in talks with four Middle Eastern countries.
“If we had production ready today, they [Middle Eastern countries] would buy it all, we’d be selling it very fast there,” Bennett explained.
Speaking of the future, Tevva continues to remain open to fundraising opportunities, despite raising $140m (£121m) from the likes of Indian multinational Bharat Forge as of September.
“There’s huge demand [and ours] is a very important mission,” Bennett said. “So yes, as a growing company, we are always looking for fundraising opportunities.”
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