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Dive Brief:
- Penske Truck Leasing, Pitt Ohio and Ryder System have placed some of the first orders for Daimler Truck North America’s medium-duty truck, Daimler’s electric Freightliner eM2, according to the manufacturer.
- Production of the EV truck is underway at Daimler’s plant in Portland, Oregon announced on October 30. Other US customers receiving initial units include Ferguson, Hogan Truck Leasing, Titan Freight Systems and Velocity Truck Rental & Leasing. In Canada, the first trucks will go to Brossard Leasing and Day & Ross.
- “Our partners and merchants can’t wait to introduce it Container eM2 to their customers and we are excited to see it in use by customers and fleets,” said Rakesh Aneja, head of eMobility at Daimler.
Dive Insight:
Aneja called the start of production of the EV trucks “another important milestone in our journey towards a zero-emissions product range”. The eM2 is Daimler’s 10th battery electric truck in production worldwide.
Built on the Freightliner M2 106 Plus platform and following the introduction of the eCascadia in 2022, the eM2 is Daimler’s medium-duty electric option. It features a proprietary Detroit ePowertrain, an improved design with electric motors and a 2-speed transmission directly on its drive axles, allowing for a lower cost per mile.
The model with a Class 6 engine offers up to 190 continuous horsepower, a 194 kWh battery and — most critical for truck driving — a typical range of 180 miles on a single charge. The Class 7 dual-motor version offers a typical range of 250 miles on a single charge.
Daimler isn’t waiting for customers to take delivery of the trucks to gather feedback on the electric vehicles’ performance.
The OEM integrated the medium-duty vehicles into a customer experience fleet launched in 2020, a partnership with more than a dozen customers that collectively represent more than 150,000 of all Class 6-8 trucks on the road.
The Customer Experience Fleet is part of Daimler’s wider Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet, which was launched in late 2018 to collect feedback and data on the integration of battery electric trucks into large-scale fleets.
In other words, it won’t be the first time he’s put eM2 trucks on the road. Daimler is bullish on vehicle performance and potential use cases.
“The feedback we received reinforces our belief that the Freightliner eM2 will meet and exceed our customers’ expectations,” said Aneja.