Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA), a heavy-duty truck manufacturer, is launching the Freightliner Customer Experience (CX) Fleet for its electric truck program.
The fleet of all-electric pre-series trucks includes six heavy-duty Freightliner eCascadias and two medium-duty eM2 106 trucks.
The Freightliner CX Fleet is part of DTNA’s ongoing co-creation initiative that engages customers in the commercial electric vehicle (EV) development process by deploying trucks in real-world applications. At least 14 different customers that collectively represent more than 150,000 of all Class 6-8 trucks currently on the road in the U.S. will help test the new Freightliner CX Fleet.
Freightliner CX Fleet participants are members of the Freightliner Electric Vehicle Council, a group of customers working with Freightliner to identify and address all potential hurdles to large-scale deployment of commercial battery EVs. Over the next 22 months, DTNA will collect and analyze data and feedback from the CX Fleet to continue to improve upon future vehicle design and assist customers navigating a transition to electric fleets.
“It’s critical that we collaborate with customers across multiple segments to further our understanding of how commercial battery-electric trucks will be part of a long-term solution in CO2-neutral transportation,” says Richard Howard, senior vice president of on-highway sales and marketing at DTNA.
“Our customers provide important, continuous feedback that contributes to our ongoing design and purposeful innovation of these trucks and together we will lead the future,” he adds.
The Freightliner CX Fleet adds to the 30-vehicle Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet, which started operation in late 2018 to provide feedback and real-world use data on the integration of battery-electric trucks in large-scale fleet operations. The Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet recently hit a milestone, surpassing 100,000 cumulative miles of operation, notes the company.
Photo: The Freightliner eM2 106 and Freightliner eCascadia
I don’t think these coal burners will catch on. People can’t be that stupid. The energy (electric) comes from coal and fossil fuel generators the pollution is released at the plant not at the vehicle. This is called Non Point Pollution.