IN A MOVE SEEN AS A FIGHTBACK AGAINST ELECTRIC truck startups like Tesla, Nikola and Thor, Daimler Trucks North America has unveiled a heavy-duty Freightliner Cascadia etruck. 

The fully-electric eCascadia will have up to 730 horsepower, its batteries providing 550 Kwh of usable capacity and giving it a 400-kilometre range,at up to 37.2 tonnes all-up. The batteries will be rechargeable up to 80% capacity – providing a range of another 320 kilometres – in about 90 minutes. 

Daimler Trucks says that the Class 8 tractor unit is designed for local andregional distribution and shuttling containers to and from ports to nearby freight terminals. 

The eCascadia is part of what DTNA terms its Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet – the heavy-duty truck joined by an eM2 medium-duty truck, an electric bus and the FUSO eCanter light truck. The other three will join the eCanter in production in 2021 or before –with Daimler Trucks boasting that it will then offer "the widest range of commercial electric vehicles of any OEM in North America." Freightliner says it will deliver an Electric Innovation Fleet of 30 vehicles to customers later this year for further testing under real-world operating conditions. The eCascadia and the eM2 are designed to fit "specific applications" –carefully identified with customers. The eM2 has up to 480hp, with batteries providing 325 Kwh of usable capacity and a range of up to 370kms at 27.2t all-up. Its batteries can be recharged to 80% capacity (providing a range of 296kms) in about an hour. It's designed for local distribution, pickup and delivery, food and beverage delivery, and last-mile logistics applications. 

"The Freightliner eCascadia and eM2 are designed to meet customer needs for electrified commercial vehicles serving dedicated, predictable routes where the vast majority of daily runs fall between 45 and 150 miles (72-241kms)," says DTNA president and CEO Roger Nielsen. "These innovative trucks reflect DTNA's commitment to bring practical, game-changing technology to market. The eCascadia, utilising North America's bestselling Class 8 platform, and eM2 106 – based on one of the most in-demand medium-duty truck designs – are built on validated, series production trucks in extensive use by our customers every day." Martin Daum, member of the Daimler Board of Management for trucks and buses, says: "We are the undisputed global leader of the trucking industry and we want to remain in that position also with regards to electric trucks."We were first-movers on electric trucks and we strive to provide the leading electric truck in each relevant segment. 

With the foundation of the global 'electric mobility group,' we maximise the impact of our investments in this key strategic technology field. Thus, we can go for the best solutions in batteries, charging solutions and energy management." Nielsen says that DTNA's main aim is to bring "vehicles to market that are safe, reliable and efficient. 

Heavy-duty electric vehicles present the greatest engineering challenges, but they also are the best learning laboratories. "We have decades of experience in successfully producing durable commercial vehicles in high volumes that stand up to the demands our customers place on them. We now bring this unmatched experience and expertise to the electric truck category." 

At the same time as the Freightliner etrucks were unveiled, Daimler AG announced that this year and next year it will spend a staggering $NZ4.12billion on research and development – including a US facility dedicated to autonomous trucks and $NZ836million on heavy-duty electric vehicles.