Shift Magazine - December 2021 - 6

Volvo began taking
orders for its VNR electric
semitruck last December.
Class 8 haulers are lagging
behind the pace at which
other EVs are being
introduced.
GETTING
READY TO ROLL
The electric semi is coming to roads near you - eventually
BY WES RAYNAL
I
6
t appears there is a missing category
in the electric vehicle tsunami.
Consumers'
needs
are
covered
with a variety of price points and body
styles on sale now and with several more
coming shortly, from small hatchbacks, to
sedans large and small, to crossovers and
full-size pickups.
Established automakers and newcomers
such as Lordstown, Bollinger and
Canoo are all getting in on the act. EV fleet
customers are getting more choice as
well, with several cities ordering electric
buses from companies such as Solaris,
Proterra and VDL Bus & Coach. Hydrogen
fuel cell big rigs are becoming more and
more common, too.
What's missing? Battery-electric Class
8 semitrucks. While there are a few
out there now in test fleets, and they'll
shift * december 2021
Penske is using Freightliner's batteryelectric
eCascadia truck on the West Coast.
eventually come to roads near you, it
doesn't seem to be happening at
the
same pace as other categories.
'REAL-WORLD USAGE'
Daimler Trucks North America said its
Freightliner subsidiary's battery-electric
eCascadia has reached 1 million miles of
" real-world usage, " with fleets, including
Penske Truck Leasing and UPS, operating
on the West Coast and in Canada.
The company says the eCascadia has
up to a 250-mile range, between 360 and
500 hp and an 82,000-pound gross vehicle
weight. The company also says it is
" fully prepared to create and sustain the
building blocks " customers need to transition
to battery-electric trucking.
Volvo hopes to have its VNR electric
Class 8 trucks on Southern California
roads. Volvo began taking orders for the
truck last December. The 455-hp EV has
a range up to 150 miles, Volvo says, and
an 82,000-pound gross vehicle weight " in
certain applications. "
In September, Automotive News reported
that in Ulm, Germany, Nikola
offered the public a look at the production
line it plans to use to start building its
Shift Magazine - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Shift Magazine - December 2021
