Freightliner eCascadia

Tesla to trucking industry: Step up your electric game

LAS VEGAS — The Advanced Clean Truck Expo is a come-all event. Until this year, Tesla has passed on attending.

The ACT Expo has outgrown the art deco charm of Long Beach and the “Disney-fied” atmosphere of Anaheim, California. This year, it moved to convention mecca with exhibitors filling the North Hall of the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center. It returns to Anaheim in 2025, occupying both halls of the convention center in 2025.

Dozens of battery electric, fuel-cell electric and alternative...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tesla-to-trucking-industry-step-up-your-electric-game

Daimler Truck marries electric and autonomous technologies

Daimler Truck added autonomous driving technology to its Class 8 electric eCascadia, creating a demo that addresses future markets for driverless trucks and emission realities that will eventually push out diesel fuel.

“We asked ourselves, ‘What would it look like if we combined the freight efficiency potential of an autonomous truck with the promise of zero emissions and decarbonization of our series production electric vehicle?’” Joanna Buttler, head of the Daimler Truck Global Autonomous...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/daimler-truck-marries-electric-and-autonomous-technologies

Diesel distancing propels alternative fuel options

Renewable natural gas, battery-electric and hydrogen-powered trucks all target fleets switching from diesel ahead of coming regulations requiring costly additional emissions after-treatment. Which alternative will win? Possibly all of them.

Vouchers make first Nikola fuel cell trucks ‘cheaper than a diesel’

Back in 2018, Anheuser-Busch placed an initial order for up to 800 Nikola fuel cell trucks. Ever so slowly, that is becoming a reality.

After numerous missteps and setbacks, Nikola produced 42...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/diesel-distancing-propels-alternative-fuel-options

Electric trucks should shake off setbacks in 2024

googletag.cmd.push(function() { var gptSlot = googletag.defineSlot(‘/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1’, [[728, 90], [468, 60], [300, 100], [320, 50]], ‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’).defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps.banner1).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());
gptAdSlots.push(gptSlot);
});

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-b1-i-fw-ad-1’); });

Meaningful volume growth eluded heavy-duty electric trucks last year for several reasons: Charging...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electric-trucks-should-shake-off-setbacks-in-2024

Nikola will replace batteries in fire-prone electric trucks

Nikola Corp. is telling customers it will replace the battery packs in its electric trucks, a worst-case scenario following several fires. Nikola is bringing all the trucks back to its Arizona plant but won’t say where or when it will get pack replacements.

In most recalls, the supplier of the part or component involved bears at least some of the cost of the campaign. In Nikola’s case, it owned its since-liquidated former supplier, Romeo Power Inc. It is therefore on the hook for the full cost...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nikola-will-replace-batteries-in-fire-prone-electric-trucks

Truck electrification is much more than picking a charger

You can buy a charger for an electric vehicle from any number of suppliers. But it’s an incomplete purchase without knowing when the charger is operating, how much juice it can put out at a given time and whether or not it’s occupied.

“The last conversation I’m having is ‘Let’s pick the right hardware, how to deploy it cost effectively, and let me help you operate it so you get the SLA (service life agreement) you want,” Rich Mohr, ChargePoint Holdings Inc. senior vice president for North...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-electrification-is-much-more-than-picking-a-charger

Mercedes-Benz Trucks eActros 600 foreshadows next Freightliner eCascadia

Even as the second-generation Freightliner eCascadia begins arriving in U.S. fleets, the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 foreshadows a purpose-built electric truck destined for North America in mid-decade.

A conventional cab typical for long haul on wider U.S. highways is a given. The Actros 600 revealed in Germany on Tuesday underpins the next Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) flagship. Some of the 50 eActros 600 prototypes will go into fleet trials in Europe this year. Series...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/mercedes-benz-trucks-eactros-600-foreshadows-next-freightliner-ecascadia

TuSimple begins catch-up on financial filings

TuSimple filed the first of four late financial documents this week. It’s easy to see why the autonomous truck software developer gave up freight hauling. It cost more than twice as much as it was seeing in revenue. And the company has just 250 U.S. employees after two rounds of layoffs and a refocus on Asian markets.

While other startups ran afoul of Nasdaq listing rules because their share price fell below $1 for more than 30 consecutive trading days, TuSimple found another way to get put on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tusimple-begins-catch-up-on-financial-filings

Electric truck recalls begin to mount — albeit in small numbers

The number of affected vehicles is barely noticeable — until you count the number of recall campaigns. Electric trucks are having early life quality problems.

The latest of 10 electric truck recalls in the past three months was reported on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website Monday. It involves the loss of power to 82 Freightliner eCascadia Class 8 trucks. The electronic axles may have insufficiently welded planetary gear sets.

E-axles and planetary gear sets are components...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electric-truck-recalls-begin-to-mount-albeit-in-small-numbers

Freightliner eM2 completes Daimler Truck EV commercial vehicle lineup

ANAHEIM, Calif. — A year after starting regular production of its Class 8 Freightliner eCascadia battery-electric truck, Daimler Truck North America will build the eM2 medium-duty model this fall. It plans for utility bucket trucks and other vocational applications after starting with straight trucks.

The launch of the Class 6 eM2 was delayed by supply chain disruptions. But DTNA applied much of what it learned from the second-generation eCascadia daycab. That sometimes meant operating from 5...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightliner-em2-completes-daimler-truck-ev-commercial-vehicle-lineup

+ More