Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024 - 4

EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
Word on the ACT Expo street
Usually hosted in Southern California,
the Advanced Clean Transportation
(ACT) Expo moved about 265 miles (425
km) north and east for its latest edition,
taking place in Las Vegas from May 2023.
Interestingly, that distance challenges
the range limits of most Class 8 batteryelectric
trucks, particularly if traversing
hilly terrain or hauling heavy loads.
One electric truck capable of covering
such a stretch - with its estimated
range of up to 500 miles (805 km) fully
loaded at 82,000 lb GCW - is the Tesla
Semi, which made its trade-show debut
at the ACT Expo. " Achieving strong
range-to-mass ratios is only possible
with a dedicated, purpose-built, groundup
electric platform - exactly what the
Semi is. There's no wasted space, the
powertrain and the vehicle work hand in
hand, " Dan Priestley, senior manager of
engineering for the Tesla Semi, said during
a keynote in Las Vegas.
trucking side of the business as well.
" We've demonstrated that megawattlevel
fast charging is available, reliable,
safe and unlocks next-level economics, "
Preistley said. " We have this deployed
in the field today and are actively
using it. What this does is it unlocks
operational equivalence between
diesel and electric. [Fleets] can swap
one for one in operations. "
Battery-electric trucks were not the
only topic of discussion at the ACT
Expo. Following are a few additional
compelling quotes from industry experts
on propulsion technologies that
likely will contribute to the decarbonization
of trucking and off-highway sectors
in the future - if not already.
Hydrogen: " If hydrogen is going to be
a solution, then we've got to have more
of that infrastructure done now. It's almost
like a Field of Dreams moment -
'if you build it, we will come.' It could be
the best technology out there, and hydrogen
ICE is really great but if you
can't fuel it, it's not going to be an option, "
said Jason Skoog, general manager
at Peterbilt.
Hybridization: " There's some areas
Tesla Semi at ACT Expo Ride & Drive event.
Priestley, who's been leading the
Tesla Semi program since the platform
was announced in 2017, presented a
slide showing the " attainable " tare
weights for its planned high-volume
production trucks " based on learnings
we've had thus far. " The 300-mile (480km)
version of the Semi has an attainable
tare weight of less than 20,000 lb
(9070 kg) while the long-range configuration
is capable of being less than
23,000 lb (10,400 kg).
Priestley also stressed that charging
is core to Tesla, and that goes for the
4 June 2024
where pure battery-electric may not be
feasible, may not be ready in its current
state, but hybridization will be a great
solution in those situations, " said Grant
Van Tine, product manager, electric vehicles,
John Deere Construction. He referenced
a 944 X-Tier hybrid-electric wheel
loader that operates 12 hours/day in a
quarry: " If we could even make it batteryelectric
- which we physically cannot
package that many batteries in this machine
- it would add another 54,000
pounds to [the 120,000-lb machine] and
cost three to four times what it is today. "
Diesel: " The diesel business is paying
for all of this, quite honestly, " said John
O'Leary, president and CEO at Daimler
Truck North America. " We will gladly
reinvest that into the future, but without
that there's no ability to reinvest in
the future. "
Ryan Gehm, Editor-in-Chief
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
Ryan Gehm
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SAE/RYAN GEHM
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2024

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