The historic Ebro brand, closely linked to the industrialization of the Barcelona Free Trade Zone, returns to activity after its disappearance in 1987. Now, at the gates of the 70th anniversary of its foundation, Ebro begins a new stage that will relaunch it as a specialized brand in electric industrial vehicles within the framework of environmentally friendly mobility.
The brand's revival plans include a 100% electric pick-up as the first production vehicle, which is shown -still in the prototype phase- at the stand that the firm has in Hall 8 of Automobile Barcelona. The production of this model, a novelty in the automotive sector in Europe, will take place at the facilities of the D-HUB Barcelona factory in Zona Franca, which previously made up the historic Nissan plant in Barcelona.
As a result of this project, Ebro will directly incorporate 150 people into its workforce, mainly from the sales and marketing areas, in the coming years. Likewise, it will contribute indirectly to the hiring of around 1,200 employees of the reindustrialization pool of the former Zona Franca plant.
The new Ebro model, which will be the first totally electric Spanish pick-up for work, is equipped with two electric motors, one on each axis, -therefore, with rear or total traction-, they will develop 220 kW (299 CV) fed by a 100 kWh lithium-ion battery, with a range of up to 440 km.
Its dimensions (5,218 mm high, by 1,848 mm wide and 1,785 mm high) allow it to offer ample interior space to accommodate five people, as well as a practical loading platform that meets the needs of work both in the field as in the city as it is a vehicle initially intended for the professional and industrial sector.
Ebro Ecopower Automotive works in collaboration with the D-HUB center in Barcelona to start the production of electric vehicles in symbolic facilities for industrialization in Spain, since this location was already the production center for agricultural machinery for Motor Ibérica which, once Nationalized in 1954, it became Ebro. However, the beginnings of this national automotive icon date back 115 years as a tractor manufacturer. In 1907, the first Fordson tractors began to be assembled at the Ford plant in Spain.
In 1979 it was bought by Nissan Motor Ibérica and began to produce Ebro cars under the Japanese brand. Already in 1987 it was absorbed by Nissan, so the Ebro brand disappeared from the automobile market as such. In 2020, Ecopower began working in Ebro under the union between SMV, Jaton Racing, Api Brothers and Zanskar Aventura.
SMV, which plays an important role in the new Ebro, is a thriving engineering company in Catalonia whose main activities are focused on the automotive industry and sustainable mobility. For its part, API Brothers is an international company based in Spain that operates in the sector of advanced digital technologies and products for the electric mobility sector.
Another of the key companies in the reactivation of Ebro is Jaton Racing, led by Edu Blanco and Ariel Jaton, whose team has participated in the Dakar Rally 15 times. In the 2021 edition, they competed as car 00 in the test with the racing prototype of the electric pick-up that has served as the technical basis for the development of the future production model.
From Ebro Ecopower Automotive they affirm that “the key to the automotive industry is to switch to renewable and ecological energy sources, and in this context factors such as sustainability, ergonomics and solidity are especially relevant. For this reason, Ebro's new electric pick-up will be practical for the commercial industry and its different uses and job derivations".
