Roger Nielsen, President and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, recently predicted that the continued progress on the development of the company’s electric trucks should allow them to put out far more units in the commercial vehicle segment than Tesla.
Despite Tesla’s aggressive plan to dominate the electric truck market with the introduction of the Tesla Semi, Daimler does not seem at all bothered. Daimler, owner of several commercial truck brands like Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Freightliner, already have experience producing electric trucks thanks in part to the Mercedes eActros, which is already in the hands of several test costumers ahead of its 2021 release.
During the American Trucking Associations’ annual Management Conference & Exhibition last week, Nielsen had some rather interesting comments in regards to the Tesla Semi and Daimler’s electric trucks:
In response to a question about a possible delay of deliveries of Tesla’s electric Semi to 2020, Nielsen said it was not just a race to market. “The best battery solution is going to win,” he said of the electric truck market. “It’s all about energy consumption.”
While Daimler seem confident in the development of their electric trucks, they do not currently have a model that can directly compete with the Tesla Semi, which is a full capacity class 8 truck. Daimler’s all-electric Freightliner eCascadia (pictured above) unveiled back in June is the closest thing they would have to stand against the Tesla Semi at the moment, and they intend to begin testing it with key customers in the U.S. soon.
After investing $155 million in electric bus maker Proterra back in September, Daimler has made it clear that they intend to focus on electrifying the commercial vehicle market and aim to beat companies like Tesla to the punch. While it’s good to see some competition in the electric commercial vehicle market, it’s still entirely too early to tell whether or not Daimler’s predictions for 2020 will come to pass.
Source: Fleet Owner
