DAF delivers its first all-electric truck

The race to bring all-electric trucks to market and electrify the transport industry has culminated into several firsts in 2018 and we have one more before the end of the year.

DAF has delivered its first all-electric truck to a customer as part of their test program.

Earlier this year, Dutch truck manufacturing company DAF unveiled their CF electric truck program.

The truck maker partnered VDL Groep to build the electric powertrain for their CF truck, which consists of a 170 kWh battery pack and a 210 kW electric motor.

While it’s a small battery pack for a truck of that size, DAF claims that it still enables a range of 100 km with a capacity of up to 40 tons, which it says is still useful in distribution applications within urban areas.

The company is also talking about a “quick charging of the batteries in 30 minutes or a complete full charge can be accomplished in as little as 1.5 hours.”

Now they have delivered the first CF electric truck to Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo.

Frits van Eerd, director at Jumbo, commented on taking delivery of the truck:

“Introducing this new electric truck is the next step towards our goal of implementing a sustainable strategy for our vehicle fleet. Our business puts us right at the heart of the community, and our ultimate goal is to be using electric vehicles to supply 45% of our shops. By 2020, we hope to have reduced CO₂ emissions from Jumbo’s vehicle fleet by 50% compared with 2008.”

Harry Wolters, member of DAF’s board of management, added:

“The transport sector is about to undergo a major transformation. Electric trucks look set to become the norm for deliveries in urban areas. Not today and not next year, but definitely within the foreseeable future. I am particularly proud that today marks the beginning of a large-scale field testing project that will see DAF working in collaboration with VDL and Jumbo. This project will allow us to gather useful data and experience in relation to both the technology and the operational aspects. We can then use our findings to ensure that the final series-production model provides the ideal solution to future market requirements.”

They plan to use their findings from the test program with Jumbo as they bring the truck to production.

It comes after Daimler also delivers its first all-electric Freightliner truck under a similar test program with a customer.