After carrying out extensive trials, Daimler Trucks North America is now confident enough to open preorders for its two electric trucks, the Freightliner eCascadia and Freightliner eM2. This is against a 2022 scheduled production for the electric trucks.
DTNA had stepped up its testing process recently, with a total of 38 trucks that have covered 750,000 miles of North American roads. The trial was done with the support of South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Bay Area AQMD). The operating conditions included regional and local haulage and food and beverages goods. It had given many fleet operators the opportunity to experiment with introducing electric trucks into their fleets.
The two new trucks will be based on the Detroit ePowertrain which is developed by a subsidiary of DTNA ironically named the Detroit Diesel Corporation. The power train comes in three different battery configurations: the 210 kWh with charging time between 1.5 and 4 hours, 315 kWh with charging time between 2 and 6 hours and 475 kWh that charges between 2 and 6 hours.
Other options are single or dual motor. The Class 8 eCascadia will go 250 miles on a single charge while the eM2 will cover more than 230 miles.
Daimler is showing it will not abandon its customers by also offering consulting services and EVSEs aimed at making the switch to electric trucks smooth. The consulting is aimed at helping to reduce costs of ownership and attain the highest performance and uptime during operation. Other technologies that are offered are the Detroit Assurance suite of safety systems and the advanced telematics service of Detroit Connect.
Richard Howard, SVP at DTNA had this to say: “From reveal of proof of concept in 2018, to a demonstration fleet that’s in the hands of real customers, running real freight in the real world, to today’s moment where we are ready to formally welcome the nation’s fleets to all-electric freight movement, the entire team at Daimler Trucks North America is incredibly proud of our progress. Moreover, we are very excited to take this next important step into the future of carbon-neutral freight transportation with our great customers and dealers.”