Logistics and trucking company Schneider has received its first eCascadia battery electric semi truck – and its plan is to build one of the largest electric truck fleets in North America.
Schneider’s eCascadia electric semi truck
The Green Bay, Wisconsin-based company has received the first of almost 100 Freightliner eCascadias from Daimler Truck North America.
The eCascadias will join Schneider’s Southern California intermodal operations, and Schneider will build 16 EV charging stations to power the electric trucks. The company expects that all of its eCascadia trucks will be fully operational by the end of 2023.
The eCascadia semi has two battery capacity offerings. The 438 kWh battery provides a driving range of 230 miles on the 4×2 configuration or 220 miles on the 6×4 configuration. The 291 kWh battery provides a range of 155 miles on the 4×2 configuration. Freightliner states on its website that the eCascadia can charge from 0-80% in as little as 90 minutes.
Schneider says that its eCascadia fleet will have the potential to avoid over 81,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per day. Annually, that’s equivalent to removing 2,400 gas cars from the road.
Schneider has set a goal to reduce CO2 per-mile emissions by 7.5% by 2025 and 60% by 2035. It says it’s reduced its per-mile emissions by 5% to date.
Electrek’s Take
This is pretty cool news, but let’s put that 100 battery electric truck number into perspective.
Top comment by Brett Chandler
Yes, this is a tiny proportion of Schneider's fleet. They've gotta start somewhere.
Intermodal terminal trucks are a fantastic application for these early e-semis; those trucks can sit idle a lot of the day and their full-day miles are limited. They'll also be much better suited to the frequent stop/go that this role demands.
This is how a revolution starts; you identify roles the existing tech is best suited to, you fill those roles, and the tech itself gets an opportunity to improve based on the learnings from this use.
Schneider says on its website that it has “approximately 9,000 company tractors” and “approximately 36,700 company trailers.” So it’s going to have to retire a whole lot of gas trucks in order to achieve its 60% by 2035 goal. So, let’s hope it delivers on that “largest battery electric truck fleets in North America” plan.
Read more: This 240t electric mining haul truck can charge in 30 minutes
Photo: Schneider
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