Daimler delivers eCascadia e-trucks to Penske and Sysco
Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has just handed over the first examples of the production version of its battery-electric heavy-duty truck Freightliner eCascadia to customers. Two Freightliner eCascadia went to Penske Truck Leasing and another one went to the food delivery company Sysco.
Daimler Trucks says that Sysco will use the electric truck at its location in Riverside, California. The company will receive more eCascadia trucks in the coming months. Sysco had already signed a letter of intent with Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) to purchase up to 800 Freightliner eCascadia trucks.
The other launch customer, Penske Truck Leasing, was already part of the field trials where the pre-production vehicles were tested in customer service. Penske says the delivery of the heavy-duty electric trucks marks the culmination of a period of joint development, refinement and field testing that began nearly five years ago.
“As a long-term, trusted partner in our electrification journey, Penske played an integral role in shaping the eCascadia to what is now available to all customers and making our highways a safer and cleaner place for us and generations to come,” also says David Carson, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing at DTNA. Paul Rosa, senior vice president at Penske, says that interest in electric trucks continues to grow among their leasing and rental customers.
DTNA unveiled the production version of the eCascadia with a gross vehicle weight of 82,000 lbs or the equivalent of 37.2 tonnes in May this year. Customers of the Class 8 semi-truck can choose between three battery options: 194 kWh, 291 kWh and 438 kWh. The latter version is said to have a range of up to 230 miles or 370 kilometres. At a fast-charging station, the smallest battery can be charged to 80 per cent in 90 minutes, while Freightliner specifies a charging time of 120 minutes for the two larger options.
The eCascadia is powered by an e-axle developed in the USA by the Daimler subsidiary Detroit ePowertrain, and is available with a single or dual motor. The variant with one motor has a maximum output of 145 kW, and the variant with a double motor has up to 295 kW. This is the maximum power of the axles – not of the eCascadia: Freightliner specifies a range of 238 to 350 kW.
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