Brazilian Auto Manufacturer FNM Returns to Develop Electric Trucks

Brazilian manufacturer Fábrica Nacional de Motores (FNM) is returning to the market to produce battery-electric trucks for the Brazil market, after shutting operations in 1988, following a new partnership with a U.S.-based battery Tier 1 supplier.

Octillion Power Systems, a provider of advanced lithium-ion batteries, is working with FNM to produce fully electric trucks, according to Octillion. The collaboration will produce a Class 6 truck with up to 14-ton capacity and a Class 8 truck with an 18-ton capacity, as well as buses and tractors.

The companies announced that 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 privatized in 1968 by the military government, and later bought by Fiat, who closed the factory in 1988. FNM's headquarters is in Rio de Janeiro. 

"The relaunch of iconic 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 that owns FNM and opened the company's new factory in Caxias do Sul city. "Octillion’s batteries are state-of-the-art and 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.”

Octillion and FNM are working together to create state-of-the-art sustainable electric trucks. The Octillion battery at 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 Paul Beach, president of Octillion Power Systems.

FNM also said their truck’s telematics systems will connect to customer’s information technology systems as well as to the factory to provide real-time efficiency and safety data.