FPT ePowertrain, Iveco's zero-emission electric motor factory

Inaugurated in 2022, the Turin plant that produces axles, engines and batteries for Iveco trucks is already carbon neutral.

By: Filippo Einaudi

Dec 5, 2023 at 3:00am ET

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For road transport to be truly neutral, the entire vehicle production process needs to be born with this requirement, which is even more important in the case of heavy-duty transport where emissions figures are higher.

Most manufacturers are installing electric vehicle assembly and component production lines in factories that until yesterday assembled combustion cars, as part of a slow transformation process, but some have managed to create 'islands' that are already 100% neutral, such as FPT, the Iveco Group's powertrain division, which has developed a dedicated zero-emission plant.

It also supplies Nikola

The ePowertrain plant came into being in 2022 at FPT Industrial's production site, north of Turin, Italy but as an operational and energy independent reality, to contribute to the Iveco Group's goal of emission neutrality. This goal is to be achieved by 2040, i.e. 10 years before the deadline set by the Paris Agreement.

The plant is designed and developed to support the development of the electric range, which the Group will complete with the introduction of electric variants of its light and heavy-duty models, from the e-Ducato van to the e-Eurocargo and S-Way medium-duty vehicles, as well as batteries for city buses and minibuses.

FPT Industrial's ePowertrain plant, Turin

This is a 15,000 square metre complex employing a total of about 200 people and where, when fully operational, a total volume of 20,000 powertrains and the same number of batteries are expected to be assembled in a year. The electric axles, in particular, are also destined for the Nikola Tre trucks, in which Iveco is a partner, and which are built at the plant in Ulm, Germany, set up as a joint venture between Iveco and Nikola.

Autonomous transport robots at the Turin ePowertrain plant

4.0 technologies

The plant is governed by state-of-the-art high-tech machinery: from highly automated warehouse operations with electric and artificial intelligence-driven transport systems, to extensive use of virtual and augmented reality, smart sensors, 3D scanners for high-precision measurements, virtual three-dimensional models for testing methods and solutions in advance, and much more.

Energy is green or offset

The ePowertrain factory in Turin uses electricity partly from its own solar plant and partly from external photovoltaic and wind power sources.

FPT Industrial ePowertrain Turin, the outdoor green zone

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CO₂ emissions from production are kept low thanks to high-tech processes and are economically compensated by the "purchase of carbon credits" through companies specialised in climate balancing operations.

Within the complex there is also a green area of 6,000 m² where about 100 highly drought-resistant plants are grown, which alone absorb and thus directly offset about 7,000 kg of CO₂ per year.

ePowertrain factory fact sheet

Inauguration	2022
Ownership	FPT Industrial - Iveco Group
Location	Turin, Italy
Total surface area	15.000 m²
Employees	200
Production capacity	20,000 powertrains and 20,000 batteries per year
Other activities	-
Models currently produced	eAX 840-R truck axles, eCD140 central drive unit for vans and eBS37 and eBS69 batteries for buses and electric city passenger vehicles