Kenworth presents first class 8 electric truck

US manufacturer Kenworth has unveiled its first US Class 8 electric truck at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. Designed for a gross vehicle weight rating of 82,000 pounds (about 37 tonnes), the Kenworth T680E electric tractor features a Meritor powertrain and offers 400 kW of continuous or 500 kW of peak power.

The vehicle is equipped with a 396 kWh capacity battery for approximately 150 miles (240 kilometres) of range and can be charged at up to 120 kW. Via a CCS1 DC fast-charging port, the T680E can be fully charged in about three hours.

The new electric truck is designed for pick-up and delivery, regional transport and freight haulage and is available as a tractor with a day cab or as a pure truck in a 6×4 axle configuration. Kenworth quotes the top speed as 65 mph (about 104 km/h).

The US company presented small electric truck variants at CES 2020. The powertrain for these BEV trucks comes from supplier Dana. Sales of the K270E (Class 6) and K370E (Class 7), which are part of the company’s Driving To Zero Emissions Initiative programme, started in September 2020. The programme also includes new EV charging stations, as the company explains. These come from PACCAR Parts and have output power ranging from 20 kW to 350 kW. Kenworth is a PACCAR company.

kenworth.com (announcement), kenworth.com (technical specifications)