Daimler debuts new Freightliner eCascadia
Daimler hopes to disrupt the electric truck game by announcing its all-electric 18-wheeler, the Freightliner eCascadia.
The news was released on June 6, 2018 at the Portland International Raceway, in Portland, Oregon. Production is scheduled for 2021.
With pollution regulation on the rise, the competition for the world’s most cost-effective electric truck isn’t slowing down.
Daimler’s eCascadia has a 250-mile range while the Tesla, VW is predicted to double that. Furthermore, Tesla’s truck is set to debut a year earlier than the eCascadia. However, Daimler has something else up their sleeve.
Daimler announced their Freightliner eM2 106, a medium-duty truck with a 230-mile potential, placing them near the top of the local shipment option list.
By the end of 2018, Daimler will deliver 30 of its new vehicles to customers for field-testing. Tim Denoyer, a senior analyst at consultancy ACT Research is already buzzing about the need for products like the Freightliner eM2 106.
“[Local delivery] makes an enormous amount of sense because it doesn’t have the long-range requirements, yet puts on enough miles on a daily basis where you can get fuel savings,” Denoyer says.
In an attempt to keep battery costs low, Daimler plans to source from Akasol. This German company buys lithium cells and converts them into batteries used in larger transport such as buses, industrial vehicles, trains, and ships.
Daimler Trucks consolidates worldwide know-how for electric drivetrains in commercial vehicles in the new unit #eMobility Group: Fully electric @Freightliner #eCascadia heavy-duty truck and medium #eM2 have been presented in the U.S. #LeadingTheCharge pic.twitter.com/cftNVGq8io
— DaimlerTruckBusVan (@Daimler_CV) June 6, 2018
Martin Daum, head of Daimler’s trucks and buses divisions, revealed a confident smile in the face of Tesla’s reservation fees.
“We don’t need the down payments to finance our investments,” Daum said. “We give (customers) prototypes. We don’t charge for that. It’s gaining knowledge on their side, as well as on our side. Then we sell the trucks and then we deliver the trucks. We don’t need any pre-orders.”
It’s going to be an innovative next few years in the electric trucking industry. We’ll see who comes out on top.