Nexio, BeGas partner to manufacture renewable propane trucks

BeGas, a manufacturer of autogas engines for commercial vehicles and Nexio, a manufacturer of trucks and engines for commercial vehicles, are partnering to boost the commercialization of bioLPG trucks in the United States.

The signing of the agreement took place at BeGas headquarters in San Agustín de Guadalix, Spain.

According to the companies, this alliance will bring new vehicles to the market and offer another decarbonization alternative to professional fleets with the use of bioLPG, also known as renewable propane. The alliance is based on emerging opportunities in markets where renewable propane is beginning to gain ground.

“[The agreement is] recognition of our confidence in the BeGas team and the commercial and business relationships we have built to expand the LPG market in corporate fleets,” Gary Winemaster, CEO of Nexio, says. “It is a unique opportunity to decarbonize professional transportation and comply with new global regulations at a time when electric trucks face infrastructure issues and high upfront and operating costs.”

With the alliance, Nexio has formally become a shareholder in BeGas.

Pedro Silva, CEO of BeGas, says the alliance follows years of collaboration with Nexio, which has supplied engines and worked closely with BeGas since 2020 on application engineering, homologation components and integration design. He recognizes the knowledge of the LPG market by Nexio’s partners, as well as the knowledge at the engineering level in these types of engines.

“[The alliance] positions us as a key solution to achieve the decarbonization targets set by Europe for 2025,” says Silva.

Texas-based Nexio, with headquarters north of Houston, is a manufacturer of commercial trucks and alternative fuel engines. It unveiled itself to the U.S. propane industry at the Western Propane Trade Show & Convention in Reno, Nevada, as it plans to bring a dedicated propane-powered bobtail to the U.S. market. Horace Mast, Nexio’s COO and chief technology officer, presented Nexio’s 7.2-liter, supercharged V-8 engine that’s been powering applications in Europe since 2020. The engine is built in Texas and exported across the Atlantic.

“As Nexio moves toward our class 7 and class 8 demo truck program in 2025 and start of production in 2026, we have an engine and powertrain that has thousands of real-world on-road application hours and miles along with thousands of dyno durability hours before it comes to North America,” Winemaster says.

BeGas is a technology- and research-based company founded in 2015. It manufactures bioautogas or liquid-injected autogas Euro VI-E engines.

Winemaster says Nexio and BeGas share a passion for the autogas market.

“BeGas and their CEO, Pedro Silva, has been pushing LPG as the alternative to diesel since the inception of the company,” he adds. “With propane-powered bobtails the foundation of Nexio’s business, our companies are very much aligned. BeGas has recently found the LPG port tractor and port forklift a very open market and are working with a number of companies finding a great fit. We also believe that this experience will translate directly to Nexio in North America.”