Factbox: Manufacturers' plans for electric big rig trucks

US Xpress Enterprises

22/10/2018 07:00

By Nick Carey
    Oct 22 (Reuters) - Since Tesla Inc  TSLA.O  announced late
last year that it planned to come to market by 2019 with an
all-electric Class 8 big rig truck called the Semi, other
companies have unveiled their own plans to do the same.
    
    Here is a list of the planned vehicles:
    
    - Volvo AB  VOLVb.ST  will begin production of its first
fully-electric commercial truck this year, and it is expected to
be sold next year for short-haul operations in Europe. The truck
maker plans to sell a vehicle based on the same drivetrain
technology in North America starting in 2020.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1WD57Z
    Under a deal with California, Volvo will deploy some
all-battery Class 8 electric demonstration models in the state
next year.
    
    - Korea's Hyundai Motor Co  005380.KS  has partnered with
Swiss hydrogen company H2 Energy to sell 1,000 hydrogen
fuel-cell electric trucks with a range of around 400 kilometers
(249 miles) starting in 2019.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1W103A
    Hyundai commercial vehicle director Mark Freymueller told
Reuters Hyundai is looking at launching in the United States,
China and parts of Europe where regulations restricting diesel
trucks will take effect in the years ahead.
    - U.S.-based Navistar is working with part-owner Volkswagen
AG  VOWG_p.DE  on electric trucks, along with major suppliers
including U.S. engine maker Cummins Inc  CMI.N , integrated
systems maker Meritor Inc  MTOR.N  and power management company
Eaton Corp  ETN.N . 
    Navistar plans to provide tester models with a range of
around 100 miles to major customers in 2019 and aims for
"low-volume" production in early 2020, said Denny Mooney,
Navistar's vice president of engineering.
    - Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup Nikola Motor Company
has partnered with suppliers including Bosch Corp  ROBSCJ.UL 
Meritor and Wabco Holdings Inc  WBC.N . Nikola's trucks have a
range of 500 miles to 1,200 miles depending on the weather,
terrain and load, and the company has around $11 billion in
pre-orders, CEO Trevor Milton said.
    Nikola's two largest customers are Anheuser Busch InBev NB
 ABI.BR , which has pre-ordered up to 800 trucks and trucker
U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc  USX.N , which has ordered an
undisclosed number. Nikola will build couple of dozen test
trucks in 2019, and around 100 more trucks in 2020.
        
    - Daimler AG  DAIGn.DE  will launch its 250-mile range
eCascadia in 2021, which is aimed at regional distribution and
port services.  Daimler said it will deliver a total of 30
prototypes to customers later this year for field-testing and
expects to have the trucks in production in 2021.
    Stuttgart-based Daimler will invest more than 2.5 billion
euros ($2.9 billion) in R&D for its truck operations by 2019,
with more than 500 million euros earmarked for electric
heavy-duty commercial vehicles, connectivity and self-driving
technology.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1T81N7
    
    - Japan's Toyota Motor Corp  7203.T  is testing two
prototype hydrogen fuel-cell electric trucks in "drayage"
operations at California's Los Angeles and Long Beach ports,
which are served by more than 17,000 registered trucks. 
    As a key advantage, Toyota claims is its hydrogen cells
refuel about as fast as a diesel truck, while battery-electric
trucks take hours to recharge.
    With some funding from the state of California, Toyota will
build another 10 semi trucks in cooperation with Paccar Inc
 PCAR.O  unit Kenworth. 
    Toyota executives have declined to provide a timeline for
production.

 (Reporting by Nick Carey
Editing by Tom Brown)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +1 312 636 8837;))