LOS ANGELES — Xos, Inc. has unveiled two new commercial electric trucks, along with a connected vehicle ecosystem.
The company boasts in a news release that “these new fleet vehicles make Xos the leading provider of battery-electric fleet solutions for commercial fleets. Xos is the only solutions provider to enable electrification from start to finish with durable commercial vehicles, flexible charging infrastructure technology and a cohesive cloud management platform enabling remote tracking, monitoring, and control of fleet assets across a fleet operator’s portfolio.”
The Xos HDXT is a Class 8 heavy-duty electric tractor designed for regional-haul fleets and can travel up to 230 miles on a single charge.
It offers 36,583 foot-pounds of torque, along with a 56,000-pound payload capability and 798 horsepower.
The vehicle’s gross combined vehicle weight, the maximum weight of a vehicle and its attached trailer, is 82,000 pounds.
McLane Company, a supply chain services and distribution company, has agreed to a pilot program with 10 Xos HDXT vehicles to explore environmentally friendly alternatives to its current fleet, the news release stated.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Xos and pilot their heavy-duty vehicles,” Mark Bachman, corporate fleet manager of McLane, said. “Xos stood out to us based on their successful track record of implementing innovative mobility solutions for other commercial fleets, so we look forward to exploring how they will help us reduce total cost of ownership while offering increased environmental sustainability.”
The Xos MDXT is a Class 6 or 7 medium-duty electric vehicle that can travel up to 270 miles on a single charge.
It offers 16,000 foot-pounds of max torque and a gross vehicle weight range of 23,000 pounds to 33,000 pounds. The MDXT is available in a variety of body configurations, including a box truck, refrigerated unit and flatbed.
Republic National Distributing Company, a wholesale beverage distributor, has already ordered an initial five MDXT vehicles. These will be the first battery-electric fleet vehicles in their fleet and represent RNDC’s commitment to sustainability.
“We are building the fleet of the future. The new vehicle platforms go farther, last longer, and cost less for all types of fleets,” Dakota Semler, chief executive officer of Xos, said. “We will continue to bring innovative fleet solutions to market in an effort to provide customers with safer, more sustainable and more cost-efficient products.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to anthropogenic U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Medium-and heavy-duty trucks contribute nearly a quarter of those transport-related emissions, the EPA says.
“As an organization, we are dedicated to reducing our environmental impact throughout our distribution network and Xos’ MDXT is an excellent zero-emissions vehicle for us because it allows us to efficiently serve the needs of our suppliers, customers, and community,” Steve Feldman, executive vice president of operations at Republic National Distributing Company, said.
In addition to the new electric trucks, Xos is also touting its new software, Xosphere, a fleet intelligence platform built on top of Xos’ proprietary connected vehicle technology and is purpose-built to minimize the total cost of ownership of an electric fleet.
According to the news release, the platform allows fleet managers to:
- Monitor real-time performance and receive alerts and over-the-air updates to improve their fleet’s efficiency;
- Measure and minimize their fleet’s total energy cost; and
- Access service and support at the click of a button.
UniFirst, which supplies and services uniform and workwear programs, is an existing Xos customer and is already using the Xosphere software to track the health of its fleet in real-time, according to the news release.
“The cutting-edge fleet management platform that Xos has introduced to the market will not only help us monitor the health of our fleet in real-time, but this solution will also allow us to track our service history and alert us when preventative maintenance is suggested which will optimize our energy usage,” Michael Croatti, executive vice president of operations for UniFirst, said.
Giordano Sordoni, Xos’ chief executive officers and co-founder, said that his company’s new offerings “position Xos as a leading end-to-end fleet services provider, which is a monumental milestone for us. Xos’ approach to scaling and production design allows the company to move with agility and use capital more effectively than traditional OEMs.These trucks are not merely concepts, they are a reality and can be ordered today to advance fleet electrification efforts across the country.”
The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
