The Freightliner Electric Innovation and Customer Experience (CX) fleets consist of pre-series production battery-electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and are used to test integration of the technology into large-scale fleet operations while providing real-time feedback and data to help shape the future of CO2-neutral transportation.
“The more miles our trucks operate in real-world operations, the more knowledge we gain, and the more experience our customers have with our pre-production trucks is integral to Freightliner’s approach to electrifying the trucking market,” says Richard Howard, senior vice president, on-highway sales and marketing, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA).
“There are no shortcuts to delivering safe, reliable, dependable trucks. Real customers, running real freight against the rigors of multiple scenarios is the only path to an electric future. Through our process of co-creation, and along with our fantastic customers, Freightliner is delivering the future, mile by mile, every day,” Howard says.
Announced in 2018 and beginning operation in 2019, the Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet includes 30 battery-electric trucks in operation by NFI and Penske Truck Leasing and its customers. The fleet is supported by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD), which focuses on improving air quality in the South Coast Basin of Southern California and partially funded the project. All trucks in the fleet operate in the South Coast Basin and are doing real work in applications ranging from port drayage to regional and local delivery to food distribution to parcel delivery.
Customer participants in the Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet include:
NFI
Penske Logistics
Penske Truck Leasing, and its customers, including:
- Black Horse Carriers
- Core-Mark
- Costco Wholesalers
- Fastenal
- Iron Mountain
- KeHE Distributors
- Mondolez International
- Temco Logistics
- United Parcel Service
- US Foods
Announced in early 2020 and beginning operation later the same year, the Freightliner CX Fleet includes eight battery-electric trucks and brings more customers into the co-creation process. Freightliner CX Fleet participants are members of the Freightliner Electric Vehicle Council, a group of customers working with Freightliner to identify and address all potential hurdles to large-scale fleet deployment. The Freightliner CX Fleet is supported in part by both South Coast AQMD and by Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Bay Area AQMD), which focuses on improving air quality in the nine-county Bay Area.
Customer participants in the Freightliner CX Fleet include:
- B. Hunt Transport Service Inc.
- Knight-Swift Transportation
- Ryder Systems
- Schneider National Inc.
- Sysco Corp.
- Velocity Truck Rental & Leasing
Freightliner electric vehicles include the eCascadia, a Class 8 tractor designed for local and regional distribution and drayage and the eM2, a Class 6/7 truck designed for local distribution, pickup and delivery, food and beverage delivery and last-mile logistics applications. The start of series production for both trucks begins in 2022, the company says.
