Heavy Duty Trucking, March 2020

FUTURE FLEET A big month for electric trucks Jack Roberts Senior Editor jroberts@ truckinginfo com @ By_ JackRoberts PHOTO ARRIVAL UPS ordering 10000 Arrival electric delivery vans and investing 110 million in the British electric vehicle OEM was just one of several big stories on the electric truck front in January There was a lot of news in January about electric trucks n January Werner Enterprises announced a pilot program to evaluate an electricpowered Peterbilt Class 8 truck in a year long stint on a dedicated account in the Los Angeles metro area Anheuser Busch took delivery of BYDs 100th battery electric I medium duty truck which will go to work delivering beverages for Anheuser Busch in the San Francisco Bay area Amazon DHL and other fleets joined a new Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance to advance their commitments to fleet electrification Mack showed off a new electric LR model that will soon begin both refuse and snowplow evaluation trials in New York City Meritor acquired TransPower saying the move helps it further position the company which already has its Blue Horizon electrification components as a premier supplier of electrification technologies for commercial vehicles Isuzu and Honda announced theyre teaming up to develop hydrogen fuel cell technologies for commercial trucks and passenger cars Then the last week of the month a couple of stories in the general media caught my eye General Motors said it will invest 3 billion in electric vehicle technology beginning next year Moreover it seems that the once controversial Hummer marque will get a significant makeover with plans on the drawing board for a 1000 hp battery electric truck that may make Hummer the face of GMs electrification efforts Then UPS popped into the headlines announcing that it is buying 10000 electric delivery vans from a British EV OEM called Arrival for P D routes in both Europe and Asia UPS will invest 110 million in Arrival and if all goes well has an option to purchase another 10000 electric vans in the future No sooner did I start digesting that bit of news when BorgWarner announced it was acquiring Delphi for 33 billion Both companies are major players in vehicle electrification technologies and systems The move will create a tech juggernaut in the automotive sector with the goal in BorgWarners words of a leader in electrified propulsion systems that is well positioned to take advantage of future propulsion migration And on top of all that we saw not one but two panels discussing electric trucks at the annual Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue outside Dallas Texas See page 34 All that in just the first month of a year It seems apparent that electric vehicles in general and electric trucks and commercial vans in particular are about to go mainstream in a big way Just the sheer numbers are staggering were talking about billions of dollars in investment in just these announcements alone And thats just a fraction of the overall research and development ongoing for electric cars trucks and vans globally Predictions are always risky But it seems possible that well look back and see that the opening weeks of 2020 where when the momentum in the electric truck market moved from experimental and theoretical to eventual mainstream acceptance None of these things are happening in a vacuum The OEMs and technology developers are doing their due diligence and carefully looking at these future markets from every conceivable angle And they must like what they see Because you dont throw billions at a maybe no matter how good the idea looks on paper To my mind the verdict is in Electric trucks are coming That doesnt mean theyre going to be a good fit for every fleet Nor does it mean that every fleet that could spec electric trucks will choose to do so What I can say with certainty is that big changes are coming to the trucking industry in some very fundamental ways And as with any new technology trend it is impossible to tell how disruptive those changes will be Jack has become known for his reporting on advanced technology such as intelligent drivetrains advanced driver assist systems autonomous vehicle technology truck platooning and alternative fuels He can be reached at jroberts@ truckinginfo com or 310 533 2521 HDT MARCH 2020 28 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM