As different gamers within the electrical business area push for ever-bigger batteries and sooner cost timers, Freightliner goes the opposite method. It’s a daring transfer, and one that might repay.
Freightliner father or mother firm Daimler says buyer enter and knowledge helped drive improvement of the brand new FCCC MT50e mannequin unveiled at Work Truck Week. That knowledge, mixed with enter from utility corporations and charging producers, led them to take what many would possibly think about a step backwards. A step in the direction of smaller battery packs with shorter vary and the addition of slower, “Degree 2” house charging.
“They wished to indicate that the L2 charging choices means its simpler to cost these vans at house,” defined Electrek’s personal Jameson Dow, once I requested why Freightliner had despatched me an image of their new field truck blasting right into a suburban house. “Which is a fairly frequent use case, or so I’ve heard.”
I’ve some Matco and Snap-On reps in my contacts, so I reached out – and at the very least one Matco man on the market positively drives his truck house each day. In order that half, at the very least, checks out.
As for the cheaper battery, that is sensible too. The brand new MT50e provides a GVWR of 23,000 lbs., a spread of as much as 180 miles on a single cost (greater than sufficient to cowl my Matco man), and a streamlined, built-in design with no discount in cargo capability in comparison with its diesel counterparts.
And, after all, it does all that with zero tailpipe emissions.
Able to work
Along with a brand new, “fleet optimized” battery capability, the MT50e sports activities a new electrical export energy system from Odyne that replaces the normal ICE turbines that energy utility our bodies, cellular catastrophe reduction “command facilities,” reefer models, and cellular medical models.
The MT50e is designed and constructed to the identical physique dimensions as fuel and diesel MT chassis, which means {that a} fleet’s present our bodies can be utilized on the MT50e with few or no modifications, making it that a lot simpler to combine them into present fleets. New driver security and ease of operation options courtesy of its customary OptiView built-in all-digital gauge show, DriveTech driver controls and a full suite of Roadwatch passive and energetic driver security help methods.
Electrek’s Take
Eradicating surface-level carbon emissions from dense human populations is among the best methods to cut back the unfavorable impacts of inner combustion on public well being. The truth that this new Freightliner does that, and permits its drivers to get their day’s work carried out and cost up with out forcing an additional journey to the depot is big.
My prediction: this one will probably be a winner.
FTC: We use revenue incomes auto affiliate hyperlinks. Extra.