Heavy Duty Trucking, September 2018

HDT SEPTEMBER 2018 54 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM several truck makers have been tamping down range expectations for the first generation of battery electric vehicles Daimler Trucks North America recently unveiled an electric powered eCascadia and an eM2 that are going through real world tests at fleet partners this fall The eCascadia focus is on port drayage and local and regional distribution with a range of up to 250 miles with the ability to charge up to 80 providing another 200 miles in about 90 minutes The eM2 is designed for local distribution pickup and delivery food and beverage delivery and lastmile logistics applications with a range of up to 230 miles and the ability to charge up to 80 providing another 184 miles in about 60 minutes And Daimlers Fuso eCanter is already available a Class 4 truck with a 100 mile range which can be quick charged within an hour at a DC charging station or over eight hours using a 230 volt outlet I dont think the electric truck market is going to evolve any differently than the electric car market has says Shaun Skinner vice president sales Isuzu Commercial Truck North America So in the beginning I think well see applications focused on short trips like inner city pickup and delivery routes Isuzu showed a battery electric N Series cabover at the Work Truck Show earlier this year thats now serving as a research vehicle Additionally Skinner says electric trucks will require both fleets and drivers to adjust operational procedures and how they work with the biggest initial challenge making sure the trucks can run the route without having to stop to recharge during the day as well as developing procedures for checking that a truck is properly plugged in and charging when done with the route so that it is fully charged before the next route begins So initially I think range anxiety is going to be a big concern for drivers and fleet managers Skinner says But after learning how the trucks drive and learning the distance the truck will drive the range anxiety will soon drop down to a minimal concern We dont argue that electric trucks are a Holy Grail for everyone they cant solve every fleets problem says Thor Trucks Semler But we do think they are going to be a fantastic fit in certain applications We dont need to go after long haul fleets with 2000 mile routes Because in reality the majority of trucking applications today involve medium duty vehicles in short range duty cycles which are a perfect fit for electric trucks Daimlers Carkin says that technically an 80 charge in 30 minutes is possible and some OEMs achieve this rate already in their passenger cars However this rate of charging comes at a significant cost to the long term health of the battery and requires a large investment in infrastructure Range is a function of onboard battery capacity Theoretically with a long enough wheelbase and a tolerance for excessive curb weights a 500 mile range is achievable today with current battery technology if you are willing to sacrifice freight capacity Or as Semler says We could build a battery electric truck with a 2000 mile range today But you wouldnt be able to carry much more than batteries on it Scott Adams senior vice president of the new eMobility business unit at Eaton thinks electric trucks will be able to handle some heavy duty hauling applications but it will have to be on shorter distance routes at least initially If youre talking about daily routes ranging from 50 to 300 miles a day thats where battery electric trucks can make sense he says When you start talking about long haul applications we see that as a space that will be a better fit for mild hybrid electric drivetrains Given those real world operational parameters Navistars Gosbee thinks the earlier adopters for electric commercial vehicles will be refuse and school bus fleets since they have set routes and ample recharge times once the vehicles return to their shop at the end of their shift In fact he notes Navistars joint electric truck venture with Volkswagen will initially focus on school bus models before concentrating on a Class 4 and 5 electric truck Were demonstrating the benefits and capability of electric school buses now Gosbee notes And were looking to bring a battery electric medium duty vehicle online sometime in the 2020 timeframe Likewise Peterbilt has been working on electric truck drivetrains for two decades now says Scott Newhouse the companys chief engineer and today it has a working demonstrator model ready for evaluation While he concedes there are legitimate real world applications that are an excellent fit for electric trucks Newhouse says Peterbilts strategy at the moment is to hold off on fullblown deployment and production until an actual market materializes in North America As Jason Skoog Peterbilt general manager says Anything we do product wise has to have solid real world applications with a timely return on investment for our customers Magnus Koeck vice president and brand manager for Volvo Trucks North America notes that Volvo is currently testing two new electric truck models in Europe as well as working with local municipalities on developing some sort of publicly accessible charging network But long term he has utterly no doubt electrics are coming I think that after the initial hype electric trucks arent going to be a disruptive force at all he says Once fleets get their hands on them and see how familiar they are they will quickly become just another option for fleet managers looking to move freight or get work done PHOTO WORKHORSE Workhorse says its new N Gen electric van has demonstrated fuel efficiency as expressed in miles per gallon equivalent MPGe that averages 40 MPGe for its 450 cubicfoot electric van and 75 MPGe for its 200 cubic foot electric van A L T E R N A T I V E F U E L S ELECTRIC