The U.S.-based manufacturer Freightliner Trucks has designed two fully electric, environmentally clean vehivles: a heavy long-haul rig and a medium-duty truck.
This looks like only the beginning of the silent truck era, though. Daimler Trucks North America, which the Freightliner Trucks is a part of, has recently founded E-Mobility Group, a new subdivision that will dedicate itself to building new commercial EVs for the international market.
The first of the two, named the Freightliner eCascadia, uses the familiar Cascadia chassis but dumps its diesel engine in favor of a 730hp (544kW) power engine and an impressive 550 kWh battery array that weighs in at around four metric tons (i.e., 4.4 US tons). The rig offers 400 kilometers (250 miles) in terms of driving range – an excellent range for a light passenger car, perhaps, but hardly good for a long-haul vehicle. It also needs an hour and a half to charge its battery from 0 to 80% at a high-power charging station.
The other model is mainly suitable for regional logistics and comes with a 325 kWh traction battery for 370 km (230 mi) driving range. Its engine power stops just short of 500 hp / 370 kW.
The company will begin testing a limited series of 30 such vehicles in the USA later this year and expects to launch mass production before 2021.
The newly established E-Mobility Group will be headed by Mercedes Benz ex-manager Gesa Reimelt and will incorporate such companies as Mercedes Trucks, Freightliner, and Fuso.
Photo: trucks.com