Leyland ZETTA: The future of electric light and heavy-duty truck manufacturing in the UK

The Leyland Trucks factory is now capable of producing 30 battery electric trucks every day, on the same production line that builds approximately 95% of all light-duty and heavy-duty trucks manufactured in the United Kingdom.

This impressive integration is the result of ZETTA, a £5.1 million project with a £2.6 million government grant funded through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC), and developed by a consortium of Leyland Trucks, Expert Technologies Group and HSSMI.

HSSMI created a digital twin of the Leyland plant to support the integration of the equipment required to deliver BEV trucks, while Expert Technologies Group implemented solutions to support Leyland Trucks with identifying and mitigating the risks of assembling large high-voltage battery packs, ensuring the workers’ safety.

In supporting Leyland Trucks to meet the upcoming demand for electric trucks due to the UK and European mandates for the electrification of heavy goods vehicles, the ZETTA project also helps to secure the future of battery electric light-duty truck manufacturing in the UK.

Led by the Leyland Team based at their factory in Lancashire, the project was undertaken through the APC’s collaborative R&D programme, now known as DRIVE35 Collaborate – opportunities to apply for this innovation funding take place throughout the year. Contact the APC to find out more.