Electric Vehicles from Daimler Trucks in Global Customer Use

Battery-electric trucks and buses from Daimler Trucks under the brands Mercedes-Benz, FUSO, and Freightliner are in intensive customer use worldwide. Positive customer feedback from trials confirms the electrification strategy of Daimler Trucks & Buses. By 2022, a vehicle portfolio with battery-electric series vehicles is planned for the main sales regions of Europe, North America, and Japan.

(Stuttgart / Kawasaki, Japan / Portland, USA) – Daimler Trucks & Buses celebrates another milestone on the path to electrifying its vehicle portfolio. Worldwide, customers have already covered over seven million kilometers locally CO₂-neutral with battery-electric trucks and buses. Positive customer feedback and insights from intensive practical tests with electric trucks from the brands Mercedes-Benz, FUSO, and Freightliner show that the electrification of road freight transport is already feasible today. Since 2018, the electric city bus from Mercedes-Benz, the eCitaro, has been in operation as a series vehicle in various European cities.

As part of its electrification strategy, Daimler Trucks plans to offer electric vehicles in all major sales regions by 2022: from the FUSO eCanter in the light segment to the Freightliner eM2 in the medium segment, and the Mercedes-Benz eActros and Freightliner eCascadia in the heavy segment.

Aiming to be a Technology Leader

Martin Daum, Chairman of the Board of Daimler Truck AG and member of the Board of Daimler AG: “As one of the largest commercial vehicle manufacturers in the world, we aim to be an innovation and technology leader in alternative drives as well. 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 also want to provide our customers with vehicles that are on par with conventional trucks in terms of availability and performance. This has driven us to put electric trucks in customer hands early on. Thanks to our global presence, customers around the world are testing different vehicle concepts in various practical applications. This represents a significant competitive advantage. Through close collaboration with our customers and the many test kilometers covered, important insights have been flowing directly into the series development of our electric trucks for several years now.”

Electric Trucks with a Star: The Mercedes-Benz eActros and eEconic

Mercedes-Benz Trucks presented the world’s first heavy electric truck at the IAA 2016. With the fully electric truck eActros, Mercedes-Benz Trucks demonstrates that heavy distribution transport for urban areas is already possible locally emission-free. The eActros, with a range of around 200 km, has been successfully used since 2018 in various customer applications in Europe as a locally CO₂-neutral alternative for urban distribution transport. Series production is planned to start in 2021.

Initial practical applications of the low-floor truck Mercedes-Benz eEconic, based on the eActros, are planned for next year. The start of series production is intended for 2022. The eEconic is primarily used as a waste collection vehicle in urban applications within the waste management sector, which is particularly suitable for battery-electric trucks due to the comparatively short and fixed routes of around 100 km with a very high stop-and-go ratio.

Pioneers in Light Distribution: The Electric FUSO eCanter in Small Series

The light FUSO eCanter celebrated its world premiere in September 2017 and is being delivered to numerous customers worldwide. The fully electric light truck from FUSO is the answer to the public demand for locally emission-free trucks for light urban distribution transport. As part of a small series, more than 170 light trucks of the FUSO eCanter type are already in use with numerous customers in Japan, the USA, and Europe. Further deliveries will follow successively. The range of the 7.49-ton truck of 100 kilometers reliably meets the needs of customers in urban distribution transport. With a fast charger, the charging time can be reduced to about one and a half hours. The eCanter is produced in Kawasaki, Japan, and in Tramagal, Portugal.

Daimler Trucks North America: Customer Testing with Freightliner eCascadia & eM2

In the USA, the heavy eCascadia and the medium eM2 celebrated their premiere in Portland in June 2018. Both electric trucks are currently undergoing practical tests with customers in the USA. The testing fleet includes over 38 vehicles in a variety of applications, including regional and local distribution, food distribution, and package delivery. They are expected to have a range of around 370 km (eM2) and up to 400 km (eCascadia) in series production. The planned start of series production for the eCascadia is mid-2022, and for the Freightliner eM2, it is late 2022.

Alternative Drives at Daimler Trucks

Daimler Trucks has the ambition to offer only new vehicles in Europe, Japan, and North America that are CO₂-neutral in operation (“tank-to-wheel”) by the year 2039. By 2022, the vehicle portfolio in the main sales regions of North America, Europe, and Japan is to include series vehicles with battery-electric drive. In the second half of the 2020s, Daimler Trucks plans to expand its series portfolio to include electrically powered fuel cell trucks, which will be fueled with liquid hydrogen. A CO₂-neutral transport on the roads by 2050 is the ultimate goal.

Photo: © Daimler Trucks

Image 1: Since 2018, the heavy battery-electric eActros has been in intensive customer use. Insights from customer testing flow directly into the series development of the locally CO2-neutral electric truck for urban distribution transport. The planned start of series production is from 2021.

Image series: The family of E-Trucks from Daimler: The Mercedes eActros (Image 1, 5,6), the FUSO eCanter (Image 2), the Freightliner eM2 (Image 4), and the heavy Freightliner eCascadia (Image 3).

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