Forth’s November networking event was hosted by Daimler Trucks of North America at their headquarters in Portland, to discuss their vision for the electrification of heavy-duty trucks.

Alex Voets, eMobility Product Marketing and Sales Strategy Manager at Daimler Trucks North America discussed the roadmap to electrification of commercial vehicles, use cases for electric trucks, and the roll out and production elements involved with Daimler’s electric trucks. Here are some highlights from the presentation:

• For DTNA the future is now and the future is electric. In April, DTNA’S President and CEO, Roger Nielsen, announced that the Portland-based Freightliner factory would be converted to produce Daimler’s eCascadia and eM2 electric trucks. “This is the beginning of the post-internal combustion engine era for commercial vehicles,” Nielsen said. “I am proud and honored to help our generation pave the road forward.”
• electric trucks face similar barriers to adoption as other forms of electric vehicles. DTNA noted that education and awareness is a key factor in breaching the barrier for adoption of any form of electric transportation. Batteries needed for the eTrucks are still expensive and large, and financial incentives and government-industry partnerships will be needed to drive the adoption.
• DTNA is in the process of delivering a total of 30 eTrucks to clients over the next several months. In August 2019, Penske Truck Leasing of Reading and NFI of Camden became the first two companies to take delivery of the eCascadia. The eCascadia trucks delivers a range of up to 250 miles
• DTNA has six key focus points for eTruck development by 2021
  • Deployment of charging infrastructure in conjunction with utilities
  • Development of key components for the redesign and repackaging into the  eTrucks
  • Continued testing of components of the eTrucks
  • Cost efficiency
  • Energy efficiency
  • Weight reduction consideration

You can view Alex’s presentation here: