New spark for Daimler Trucks

By Colin Windell

 

 

 

Daimler Trucks has added the Freightliner brand name to the fully electric truck options it produces alongside the eActros and Fuso eCanter as well as announcing the establishment of a new global organisation dedicated to e-mobility.

Presented at the recent Capital Market & Technology Days in the USA, it showed the Freightliner eCascadia, a heavy-duty electric truck for long-distance operations (>15 t GVW). A fully-electric variant of the Freightliner eM2 106 covers the medium segment (9 to 12 t GVW).

With the two e-trucks from Freightliner, the Mercedes-Benz eActros, the FUSO eCanter, the fully-electric Mercedes-Benz Citaro city bus and the Thomas Built Saf-T Liner C2 Jouley school bus, Daimler Trucks & Buses already has the broadest portfolio of fully-electric commercial vehicles to be found anywhere.

Martin Daum, member of the Daimler Board of Management for Trucks and Buses, says: “We are the undisputed global leader of the trucking industry and we intend to remain in that position with electric trucks and buses. We were first-movers on electric trucks and strive to set the standard in each relevant segment.

“With the formation of our new global E-Mobility Group, we will maximize the impact of our investments in this key strategic technology. Thus, we can pursue the best solutions in batteries, charging solutions and energy management.”

Daimler Trucks & Buses sees electric mobility as an innovation driver in the commercial vehicle industry but recognises a primaryobjective applies in that e-mobility must be cost-effective – both for the customer and for the manufacturer.

The E-Mobility Group (EMG) will — across all brands and divisions — define the strategy for electric components, complete electric vehicles, and develop a standardised, global electric architecture similar to Daimler Truck’s global platform strategy for conventional engines and drive components.

“We expect increasing demand for electric trucks and buses, and are also receiving these signals from our customers. Only manufacturers who lead the field in both conventional drive systems and electric drive systems are able to offer convincing solutions, technically and business-wise.

“With regard to conventional powertrains, we have always benefited from our worldwide platform strategy. We will also be taking this approach for electric drive systems in the future. To this end, we are establishing the E-Mobility Group in which our experts from all functions around the world will work together on the best e-systems,” says Frank Reintjes, member of the Divisional Board of Management, Daimler Trucks & Buses responsible for Global Powertrain and Manufacturing Engineering.

The Freightliner eCascadia is based on the Cascadia, the most successful heavy-duty long-distance truck (class 8) in the North American market. Some 730 hp is almost silently generated under the characteristically long, US-style hood. At 550 kWh, its batteries provide enough energy for a range of up to 400 km and can be recharged to around 80%  within 90 minutes to cover a further 320 km.

The Freightliner eM2 106 is intended for local distribution operations and last-mile delivery services. The batteries of the new electric version provide 325 KWh for up to 480 hp. The range of the eM2 is around 370 km. The batteries can be recharged to around 80% within 60 minutes, sufficient for a range of around 300 km.

Frank Reintjes added, “With our trucks and buses we want to make our customers more succesful. This applies to both electric trucks and conventional powertrains.”

At the event in Portland, Oregon, Daimler Trucks confirmed its positive outlook for unit sales and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and remains optimistic about its outlook for the current business year. In the Trucks division, the world's most successful manufacturer of commercial vehicles anticipates a significant increase in unit sales and EBIT compared with the previous year.

In line with this outlook, the company has already sold a total of about 21% more trucks in the first quarter of 2018 than it did in the equivalent period of the previous year. In the first quarter of 2018, orders climbed by 49% compared with the previous year.

Martin Daum, member of the Daimler Board of Management for Trucks and Buses says: "In the world of trucks and buses, we are clearly number one. To ensure it stays that way, we consistently build on our strategic strengths: our global presence, worldwide platforms and our leading role in innovation. And we always keep our customers in focus. Our products have to make our customers successful for us to remain successful."

On an international scale, Daimler Trucks already has more than 500 000 trucks connected to the Internet of Things via its FleetBoard and Detroit Connect connectivity platforms. It was also the first truck manufacturer to demonstrate digitally connected trucks – so-called platooning – on public roads in Europe, the US and Japan.