The Freightliner eCascadia, with a typical range of 370km, will be delivered to North American customers this year
Following more than 1.6 million kilometres of testing in daily customer operations, Daimler Truck and its US Freightliner brand recently unveiled the all-electric eCascadia that will enter series production in 2022. Built on the heavy-duty truck platform in North America, the new battery-electric Freightliner eCascadia will provide customers with a zero-emission version of the Cascadia.
Customer deliveries are expected to begin in 2022, bringing Daimler Truck and their US customers one step further towards CO2-neutral transportation.
Since 2018, Freightliner points out that it has deployed trucks with customers to run freight in the real world covering a wide breadth of applications including local delivery, food distribution, and parcel delivery.
Comprised of over 40 battery electric eCascadias and eM2s, Freightliner says its Electric Innovation and Customer Experience (CX) fleets, have transformed the testing process by putting trucks into the hands of almost 50 customers, including leading US fleets such as Penske Truck Leasing, NFI, Knight-Swift, Schneider, Ryder, J.B. Hunt and others.
Along with extensive development and rigorous testing through several prototypes, this has reported to result in a powerful and efficient battery electric truck with multiple battery and drive axle options, providing a typical range of 370km (depending on vehicle configurations).
Freightliner says the eCascadia is best suited for short-haul routes that allow for depot-based charging, examples of which include last mile logistics, local and regional distribution, and warehouse-to-warehouse applications.
Within the context of its global platform strategy, Daimler Trucks says it is deploying a globally uniform basic architecture for all-electric trucks: the ePowertrain.
Following the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz eActros last year and the Mercedes-Benz eEconic later this year, the Freightliner eCascadia is the next product to feature the in-house developed ePowertrain in connection with Daimler Truck North America’s Detroit brand.
The eCascadia is driven by an eAxle integrated with an electric motor, transmission and specialised electronics within a compact unit. It is available with a dual motor (470hp) or a single motor (320hp). Customers can choose between three battery options for a range of sizes and average, zero-to-full charging times starting with 194kW/h (one and a half to three hours), 291kW/h (two to four hours), and 438 kW/h (two to six hours).
Another key point is that the battery can be recharged to 80 per cent in approximately 90 minutes.