Daimler Trucks & Buses says its range of battery electric vehicles have now driven more than seven million kilometres with customers around the world.
This includes its Mercedes-Benz eCitaro bus, Fuso eCanter light-duty truck and the Mercedes-Benz eActros and Freightliner eCascadia in the heavy-duty segment.
Daimler Truck AG board of management chairman and chief executive Martin Daum says as one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, the company has the “ambition to be the innovation and technology leader also with alternative drive systems”.
“For example, our locally CO2-neutral city bus eCitaro has been in series production since 2018 and electrifies public transport in many cities. With our electric trucks, we aim to offer our customers electric vehicles that are on a par with conventional trucks in terms of availability and performance as well.
“This motivated us to place electric trucks in the hands of customers at an early stage. Thanks to our global presence, customers all over the world are testing various vehicle concepts in diverse practical applications. This represents a strong competitive advantage.
“Thanks to the close dialouge with our customers and the many test kilometres we have covered, important findings have been flowing directly into the series development of our electric trucks for several years now,” Daum says.
Daimler Trucks says its “ambition” is to “offer only new vehicles that are CO2-neutral in tank-to-wheel operation by 2039 in Europe, Japan and North America”.
“By the year 2022, the vehicle portfolio in the main sales regions of North America, Europe and Japan should already include series-produced vehicles with battery-electric drive.
“In the second half of the 2020s, Daimler Trucks plans to add electrically powered fuel-cell trucks running on liquid hydrogen to its series-production portfolio. The ultimate goal is CO2-neutral transport on the roads by 2050,” the company says.
Mercedes-Benz eActros and eEconic
Mercedes-Benz Trucks was the world’s first manufacturer to present a heavy-duty electric truck at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in 2016.
The company says the eActros is demonstrating that heavy-duty distribution transport for urban areas can already be locally emission-free.
The eActros has a range of around 200km and has been in use for urban distribution transport in a wide range of applications with various customers in Europe since 2018. Series production is scheduled to start in 2021.
The first practical applications of the Mercedes-Benz eEconic low-floor truck, which is based on the eActros, were announced early this year and is due for release in 2021 with series production scheduled for 2022.
The eEconic will mainly be used as a waste-collection vehicle in urban waste-management. This is suitable for battery-electric trucks due to the shorter and planned routes of about 100km with a high proportion of stop-and-go operation for regenerative braking.
Fuso eCanter
The light-duty Fuso eCanter had its world premiere in September 2017 and is now being delivered to customers worldwide.
As part of a small series, more than 170 eCanter trucks are already in use with customers in Japan, the United States and Europe. The 7.5-tonne truck has a 100km range and meets requirements of customers in urban distribution transport. It comes with fast charging capability and charging time can be reduced to about one-and-a-half hours. The eCanter is produced in Kawasaki, Japan and in Tramagal, Portugal.
In New Zealand, Fuso NZ first showcased the model in 2019 and had it on display at the EV World expo at ASB Showgrounds, Auckland in August that year.
It was also driven to Parliament in Wellington and introduced to Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter and Environment Minister David Parker.
Freightliner eCascadia and the eM2
The heavy-duty eCascadia and the medium-duty eM2 were premiered in Portland, United States, in June 2018. Both electric trucks are currently undergoing practical tests with customers in the US. The test fleet comprises of 38 vehicles in a variety of applications including regional and local distribution, food distribution and parcel delivery. The vehicles have a target range for series production of up to 370km (eM2) and up to 400km (eCascadia). Series production of the eCascadia is scheduled to start in mid-2022 and of the Freightliner eM2 in late 2022.
Mercedes-Benz eCitaro
The all-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro bus has been in public operation in cities and metropolitan areas since 2018.
The vehicle is based on the Citaro urban bus and is the only fully-electric urban bus to be developed and manufactured in Germany, Daimler says.
