An unlikely partnership between Metallica and Iveco is behind a fleet of big rigs powered by batteries and hydrogen fuel cells hitting the road this summer for the European leg of Metallica’s M72 World Tour. The Italian heavy truck maker and American heavy metal band first teamed up last year, and Iveco celebrated by showing off a special-edition livery that the trucks will wear on tour, making stops along nine major European cities, as the Cool Down reports.
The trucks hauling Metallica’s gear across Europe are a mix of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell models, according to Semafor. That makes Metallica one of the earliest adopters and the most high-profile proponents of FCEVs yet. It seems the only thing Metallica hates more than file-sharing is carbon emissions. Per Semafor:
When the iconic metal band goes on tour across Europe this summer, some of its guitars and drums will be hauled in trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The band is keen to cut the carbon footprint of its tours, said Gerrit Marx, CEO of the Italy-based truck manufacturer Iveco Group, which is designing custom low-carbon trucks for the tour: “Everywhere they have concerts, we can engage together on sustainability.”
The Iveco collaboration makes Metallica the latest advocate for hydrogen, a controversial fuel that could eventually be critical to the clean energy transition but the global supply of which is currently made almost exclusively from unabated fossil fuels. Marx spoke to me on stage during Baker Hughes’ annual meeting in Florence, Italy, where some of the world’s biggest investors in hydrogen said the key to realizing the fuel’s green aspirations is to turn a blind eye, for now, to how it gets made. Instead, they’re chasing any possible end user — from steel plants to metal bands — to scale the industry up on the expectation that falling costs for renewable energy and carbon capture technology will eventually make hydrogen a genuine solution to climate change.
Iveco will be supplying Metallica with EV models of its S-Way trucks, known as the S-eWay, as well as some trucks that run on liquified natural gas, which aren’t quite as eco-friendly as the EV and FCEV models but have significantly greater range. The S-eWay trucks have a range of up to 500 kilometers, or 311 miles, while the S-Way LNG trucks can go up to 1,600 kilometers, or 994 miles.
The latest hydrogen-powered FCEVs from Iveco have a range of up to 800 kilometers (497 miles). But it’s unclear which S-eWay Fuel Cell trucks Iveco will lend Metallica, since last year’s announcement only mentioned the S-Way LNG and S-eWay, which had just been refreshed, as the Financial Post reports:
To close the launch event, a special announcement was made about a partnership between IVECO and rock legends Metallica. IVECO will support Metallica during the European leg of their M72 World Tour, running from May to July 2024, with electric and natural gas trucks accompanying the band across various locations, and IVECO electric and gas minibuses serving as shuttles during the concerts. The IVECO vehicles will help reduce the tour’s CO2 emissions, and several other initiatives will be implemented based on the core values of environmental sustainability and social responsibility embraced by both the brand and the band. The theme song for the full MY24 range is “It’s Electric” performed by Metallica.
Metallica will also use Iveco minibus EVs as shuttles during their concerts, in order to further reduce carbon emissions. It would be easy to call this an empty gesture, but the band genuinely seems intent on reducing its carbon emissions, as opposed to some other contemporary artists like Taylor Swift. Or, it could just be an exercise in good PR for both the truck maker and Metallica.
But nothing rocks harder than renewables and lower emissions, and the heavy metal icons from LA seem to agree. The Iveco EV partnership is another feather in its renewables cap: Metallica has committed nearly $2 million to support “Metallica scholars,” some of which are budding workers in the renewables sector, like wind turbine technicians from lower-income Texas schools. Every little bit counts, I guess. Who knows? Maybe Metallica has finally quenched its thirst for gasoline.
