Navistar President and CEO Mathias Carlbaum says the road to Class 8 truck electrification is uncertain. The destination is not.
Battery electric vehicles are going to be part of trucking’s future, Carlbaum told attendees Tuesday during the general assembly at the Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. Battery technology is improving rapidly. Infrastructure plans are in development. Total cost of ownership (TCO) parity compared to diesel for long haul operations will be achieved.
Carlbaum doesn’t know when that day will come, but at this point, he said the reality is too inevitable to ignore. Once a business case for BEVs is established, it won’t matter what regulations or public pressure started the industry down this path. Eventually the trucks are going to make business sense, and when they do, Carlbaum said fleets are going to want them.
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“There are 500 of us here and we all have an opinion [on electric trucks]. Most of us will be wrong,” Carlbaum said Tuesday. “Eight to 10 years from now, we will have a completely different ballgame than what we see right now.”
Carlbaum cited technological innovation in all facets surrounding BEVs as one reason for his (and Navistar and its parent company Traton Group's) growing confidence around an electric trucking future. Heavy vehicle battery technologies are being revolutionized as science and industry find new ways to reduce battery weights, improve life cycle and increase range, Carlbaum said. Similar developments are underway in regard to charging, and Carlbaum said he can see a not so distant future in which Class 8 sleeper trucks will be able to receive a complete charge in well under an hour. Coupled with a national charging network, Carlbaum said largest barriers to adoption of BEVs in the heavy truck space are aggressively being removed.
