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Daimler opens the door…to its electric future
Daimler Truck’s electric trucks and buses have already clocked-up more than 10million kilometres in customer operations. Now, as it tests a heavy-duty hydrogen fuel cell eActros (above), it is quickly moving towards a zero emissions future
Freightliner’s battery-electric eCascadia is now undergoing in-fleet testing with US customers
T’S A TIME OF SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY,
so much confusion, such stark divisiveness: Climate change is the worst crisis the modern world has ever faced/it’s a have….Trump is great/Trump is a horror show…..COVID-19 lockdowns are the only way to get through this thing/closing everything down is gonna ruin us.
Within the trucking industry there’s similar discord and contradiction: Electric trucks are the future/are totally impractical….hydrogen fuel cells are The Way/ nah, they need infrastructure that’s beyond us….. driverless trucks will be running on a motorway near you soon/autonomous trucks? You’re kidding aren’t ya!
But in the midst of all this perplexing stuff, from within our global trucking world comes a counterpoint to all that – a moment of seemingly remarkable clarity. An upfront, possibly unprecedented, opening-up and comprehensive insight into the thinking of one of the global giants of truckmaking.
In a statement of intent that’s surprising for its apparently wide-open transparency, the soon-to-beindependent Daimler Truck has laid out its ambitions and plans for the future. Well, for the next few decades of it, at least.
In the leadup to the recent go-ahead by the Daimler AG board for the spinoff of Daimler Truck into a separate entity by year’s end, the truckmaking division hosted a so-called inaugural Strategy Day – laying out its path ahead as a standalone company (albeit one that’s still largely owned by Daimler).
First a stocktake of where it’s at now: Daimler Truck says it “starts this journey from a leading position – as the number one in the global commercial vehicle business, in terms of sales, market share and global reach.”
To quantify that, DT says it generates €40billion Euros in revenue and sells over half a million trucks and buses “in a typical year.”
It has “strong brands across all major continents” – like Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz, FUSO and BharatBenz.” DT says it amounts to the industry’s widest range of trucks and buses.
Sounds pretty damn good – but not good enough, apparently: Daimler Truck – independent by the start of next year if all goes according to plan – will be determined to improve its profitability…as well as accelerating its “strategic ambitions.”
Says the company: “While Daimler Truck is a powerhouse in North America, dominating the region with a 40% market share in the heavy-duty segment and benchmark profitability, its recent record in other market regions is less satisfactory.
Daimler Truck is “convinced” that hydrogen FCEVs “will play a key role in commercial transportation” – and says it intends getting FCEVs into production within six years
“The inconsistent regional profitability records of Europe, Brazil and Asia need to be improved significantly.”
And those “strategic ambitions”? Electric. Electric… and electric.
As well as it’s doing in building and selling dieselengined trucks, the global Number One declares its utter commitment to an all-electric future, as CEO Martin Daum says: “Our mission as an independent company is clear: Our ambition is to lead the way to zero emissions in the trucking business by accelerating the development of battery and fuel cell vehicles.”
Andreas Gorbach, the new CTO and Head of the Truck Technology Group, sets out the premises of DT’s technology strategy: “First of all, the company will ramp down internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrain spending and work with partners.”
It is, for instance, already working with Cummins on medium-duty engines and is, Gorbach reveals, “actively seeking additional partnerships in the heavy-duty engine sector to share necessary investments.”
And, he adds: “Daimler Truck will further reduce spending in conventional powertrain and redirect the vast majority of R&D spending to ZEV (zero emission vehicles) technologies by 2025. For ZEV technology, the company is committed to both battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and hydrogen solutions.”
Think about that for a moment: DT is going to switch most of its research and development spending into ZEV technologies…in the next four years!
Having started with the fully electric FUSO eCanter in 2017 DT says it has now established “the broadest portfolio of ZEV commercial vehicles of all global truck OEMs.” ZEVs such as Freightliner’s eCascadia and eM2, the Mercedes-Benz eActros and eCitaro and its electric Thomas Built buses are operating on a daily basis and have driven more than 10 million kilometres in customer operations.
Further products such as a 500km range eActros LongHaul “will be launched in the coming years” as will DT’s planned next-generation BEV truck, with a range pushed out to 800kms.
To accelerate the company’s BEV ramp-up, DT is significantly scaling-up inhouse eDrive technology know-how and development – and it makes some key partnership announcements in the fields of battery technology and charging infrastructure that coincide with the Strategy Day.
An “intensified” partnership with lithium-ion battery manufacturer and developer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), will see the company supply the battery packs for the Merc eActros LongHaul BEV, which DT says is planned for series production in 2024. The supply deal will last beyond six years.
The CATL batteries will combine high-energy density with ultra-long cycle life – and a fastcharging ability “to meet the unique requirements of battery-electric long-haul trucks.
“In addition, the companies intend to jointly design and develop even more advanced nextgeneration battery cells and packs for truck-specific applications, with a focus on high modularity and scalability in order to support different truck applications and flexible compatibility with future e-truck models.”
DT’s partnership with CATL dates back to 2019, with a deal to supply the lithium-ion battery cell modules for the eActros and Freightliner’s eCascadia and eM2.
Daum says that partnerships like this “are vital for
By 2039, it intends to be selling only ZEVs
us to deliver on our commitment to the Paris Agreement and our ultimate goal of achieving CO2-neutral transport on the roads – on which we are working at full speed.
“Expanding and strengthening our strong collaboration with CATL will play a key role as we accelerate our electrification activities and lead the way to zero emissions in the truck industry. We will launch a wide range of customer-oriented, innovative seriesproduced electric trucks from 2021 onwards.”
Daimler Truck says its aim is to be offering “only new vehicles that are CO 2-neutral in driving operation (“tank-to-wheel”) in Europe, Japan and North America by 2039.”
As soon as next year, it intends to have seriesproduced BEV trucks on sale in those three key regions – and, by 2027, it intends to add hydrogen fuel cell trucks to its ZEV portfolio.
After three years of practical testing of the eActros in customer fleets in Europe, series production is starting this year, with the Merc eEconic low-floor truck – based on the eActros – scheduled to start series production next year.
Similarly, in the US, the medium-duty Freightliner eM2 and the heavy-duty eCascadia are now in practical testing with customers and are scheduled for series production in the middle of next year (eCascadia) and late 2022 (eM2).
DT’s global fleet of FUSO eCanter light-duty electric trucks in use with customers globally is now up to 200plus.
Daimler Truck boss Martin Daum acknowledges that building the infrastructure to charge electric trucks and refuel hydrogen fuel cell trucks is “crucial” in persuading operators to buy them....and that’s part of the plan
In addition to these BEVs, Daimler Truck says it is “leading the industry in hydrogen fuel cell truck development” (a claim that a hydrogen FCEV pioneer like Hyundai may well dispute) and says it intends to “accelerate the development and deployment of hydrogen fuel cell trucks (FCEVs).
“The high energy density of hydrogen, quick refuelling times and the likely development of a hydrogen energy system in many markets mean that Daimler Truck is convinced that FCEVs will play a key role in commercial transportation.”
Backed by its cellcentric JV with Volvo Trucks – “and with a clear technology roadmap, Daimler Truck is committed to bringing these vehicles to the market.”
And quickly: DT says its “ambitious technology roadmap” for both battery and fuel cell electric vehicles aims to have electric trucks account for “up to 60% of sales” by 2030. By 2039, it intends to be selling only ZEVs.
There are, of course, plenty of operators who are sceptical about the economics and the practicality of either BEV or FCEV trucks in this kind of timeline.
Daum acknowledges that – and says that building the infrastructure to charge BEVs and refuel FCEVs is “crucial” in persuading operators to buy them.
“The fear of running out of power is the issue where the customer is the most sceptical,” he says.
To help allay those fears Daimler Truck announces a new partnership with Shell to jointly drive hydrogen-based fuel-cell trucking in Europe. Both companies are committed to building-up “a trucksuitable hydrogen-refuelling infrastructure.”
This will start with an industry-first 1200km ‘hydrogen corridor’ between green hydrogen production hubs in Rotterdam, Hamburg and Cologne – “with Shell providing hydrogen fuelling stations along this route and DT committing to supply hydrogen trucks for use by customers by 2025.”
Daimler Truck has also formed a consortium – with, remarkably, truckmaking rivals the Volvo Group and Traton – to install and operate a high-performance public charging network for long-haul BEV heavy-duty trucks and buses across Europe.
The aim is to initiate and accelerate the development of charging infrastructure to enhance customer confidence and support the EU’s mandated path to climate-neutral transportation.
At its Strategy Day Daimler Truck also announces that it is launching support services in Europe and North America to help customers transition to operating electric trucks.
In Europe, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has entered into a strategic partnership with Siemens Smart Infrastructure and Engie to provide charging solutions for truck fleets at depots. In North America, Daimer Truck North America’s Detroit powertrain unit has similarly formed a partnership with Power Electronics to provide onsite consulting, installation and support for 350kw mega-chargers.
The message from DT is that, for Merc for instance, “e-mobility is about more than just a new drive system.” The truckmaker will, it says, accompany its customers “throughout their changeover to electromobility and offers them a holistic ecosystem in collaboration with its partners.”
It is recognition, says DT, that “when it comes to making the switch to electromobility, fleet managers are keen to obtain answers – not only on which vehicle is right for them, but also to a whole host of other questions.”
For instance, Merc’s eConsulting team will look at a customer’s existing routes “to determine a realistic and meaningful usage profile for electric trucks at their location.”
And if you’ve been thinking that the giant Daimler
Truck has gone a bit quiet on autonomous trucks, Daum does concede that driverless trucking is one of those elusive “holy grails out there.”
But the pursuit of that autonomous future continues – and in the last two years DT has announced the pursuit of its own driverless truck system, optimised for hub-to-hub trucking….rampingup its development effort with the purchase of Torc Robotics in the US.
Subsequently, it also announced an autonomous driving partnership with Waymo – which will see a unique Freightliner Cascadia designed specifically to work with the Waymo Driver autonomous system.
It thus has a two-track approach, which Daum says will result in “best-in-class Level 4 autonomous trucks.”
And yes, he confirms, autonomous operation will be one of many new services DT is focusing on as it moves forward – along with the likes of electrification services such as battery management and digitisation.
On the subject of digitisation, DT head of truck technology Andreas Gorbach says it is one of the things making autonomy and many other of the company’s goals possible.
Focusing on the electronic architecture of the truck and its software – with more powerful but fewer computing units in the truck – will, he says, help DT’s readiness “for the next generation of human-machine interface, the next generation of safety systems, the next generation of predictive intelligence, the next generation of electric and fuel cell trucks….and ready for the next generation of autonomous driving.” T&D
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