PORTLAND, Ore. — Daimler Trucks North America has launched a new option in its line of electric Freightliner vehicles as part of its Customer Experience (CX) fleet. The CX fleet vehicles ready for user testing now includes six heavy-duty eCascadia model trucks and two of the medium-duty Freightliner eM2 model.
Over the next two years, 14 different Daimler Trucks customers will operate the all-electric trucks, testing vehicle performance within the customers’ daily transport sectors. The customers will represent some of Daimler Trucks’ largest in the U.S., having collective fleets of over 150,000 Class 6-8 vehicles. The CX test fleet complements the fleet of 30 Freightliner eTrucks in operation since 2018. The market launch date for the eCascadia and eM2 models is expected in late 2021.
The Freightliner eCascadia design is based on the original diesel Cascadia. The electric version is planned to have 730 peak horsepower and will be equipped with batteries offering 550-kilowatt hours of capacity. At full charge, the batteries will provide a range of up to 250 miles. A 200-mile range can be expected following a 90-minute charge. The Cascadia is a Class 8 truck (80,000 lb. GCWR) designed for local and regional distribution transport sectors.
The Freightliner eM2, intended for local distribution transport and last-mile delivery services, is a Class 6 vehicle (26,000 lb. GCWR). The batteries provide 325-kilowatt hours of capacity, a range of up to 230 miles and 480 peak horsepower. After a charge of 60-minutes, a 184-mile range can be anticipated.
Both CX vehicles are part of Daimler Trucks’ global electric truck initiative, one which provides vehicles for a variety of applications.
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