Amazon goes Old World for new electric trucks

Amazon has taken a significant step toward reducing its carbon footprint with the announcement of its largest-ever order of electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs). The company has committed to acquiring over 200 new eActros 600 vehicles from European truck maker Mercedes-Benz Trucks. They will be integrated into Amazon’s existing eHGV transportation network later this year. The purchase is a big win for Mercedes-Benz Trucks, as it represents the largest electric heavy goods truck contract to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amazon-goes-old-world-for-new-electric-trucks

Could the flux capacitor solve hydrogen storage on Class 8 trucks?

The garbage-gulping Mr. Fusion from “Back to the Future” was pure fiction, but the flux capacitor that powered Doc Brown’s flying DeLorean is real. NASA made it. The space agency licenses it. And hydrogen-powered trucks might benefit from it.

A license like no other

“I actually have a license for the flux capacitor. How many people can say that?” Michael Kramer, founder of startup Novadev, told me. “The only one who’s made a lot of money on this program so far is my patent attorney. He got paid a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/could-the-flux-capacitor-solve-hydrogen-storage-on-class-8-trucks

Are hydrogen combustion engines delayed or DOA?

Guidehouse Insights has published an extensive report on the global prospects for internal combustion engines powered by hydrogen. You can spend $3,950 to buy the full report and its 43 charts tracking markets for H2 ICE. Or, you can read one of the author’s perspectives below.

Hydrogen ICE study: Not that great a solution

Except for some vocational use cases in North America, a forgiving regulatory environment in Europe and a drive for energy independence in India, the idea of using gaseous or...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/are-hydrogen-combustion-engines-delayed-or-doa

Electrifying in-bound logistics continues to expand globally

Volvo Trucks North America started using zero-emission electric trucks for in-bound logistics in 2021. It told fleets that to qualify to bring parts to Volvo plants, they would need VNR Electric trucks.

Freight forwarders complied. Watsontown Trucking Co. and Camrett Logistics ordered Class 8 VNR Electric trucks in October 2021. They began round trips to NRV in December of that year. Ryder System Inc. likewise leased seven VNR Electric trucks to transport pallets of components for heavy-duty...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electrifying-in-bound-logistics-continues-to-expand-globally

Daimler Truck manages small gain in 2023 sales

Market leader Daimler Truck grew sales by a scant 1% in 2023. It blamed supply chain bottlenecks for missing its higher goals. Daimler reports full-year financials on March 1 and expects to meet its revenue and profit metrics.

Group sales, which include Portland, Oregon-based Daimler Truck North America, amounted to 526,053 units. That compared with 520,291 units a year earlier.

Daimler dealt with “a continuously challenging supply situation,” CEO Martin Daum said in a news release.

At its Capital...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/daimler-truck-manages-small-gain-in-2023-sales

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

Daimler Truck boosts electric truck range with new battery chemistry

Graphics infused eActros long haul truck from Mercedes-Benz Trucks in Europe.

HANNOVER, Germany — Daimler Truck is changing battery chemistry for its future long-haul electric trucks to boost driving range beyond 300 miles on a single charge while eliminating the use of cobalt and nickel.

The world’s largest truck maker showed its eActros long-haul electric truck for the first time Sunday evening before the opening of the IAA Transportation 2022 show.

Rather than the commonly used lithium-ion chemistry, the eActros long-haul truck will use lithium-iron phosphate (LFP),...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/daimler-truck-boosts-electric-truck-range-with-new-battery-chemistry

Daimler Trucks North America gets new CEO with Nielsen’s retirement

Market leader Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) is getting a new CEO with the retirement of current leader Roger Nielsen.

The Daimler Truck AG Board of Management appointed John O’Leary as president and CEO effective April 1. He will oversee the division that sells about four in 10 trucks in the U.S.

DTNA brands are Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas Built Buses, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. and Detroit Diesel Corp.

Nielsen, 60, will retire April 30 after 35 years with the company, the last...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/daimler-trucks-north-america-gets-new-ceo-with-nielsens-retirement