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DTNA President and CEO Roger Nielsen is ready to take the truck maker into the next phase of electrification. Photo: DTNA<\/p>\n
Daimler Trucks North America President and CEO Roger Nielsen recently sat down with HDT to discuss the future of electric trucks in the trucking industry and explain why he thinks it is the end game that everyone is pushing towards. After addressing the crowd at this year\u2019s ACT Expo, Nielsen went into more detail on how DTNA is not only riding the new wave of truck electrification, but planning for the changes and challenges that lie ahead.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, Nielsen and DTNA have a realistic outlook on how long it will take to get to an all-electric future. But to not every step will be necessary to make it to the end of the road. In terms of other alternative fuel choices, namely hydrogen fuel cells and compressed natural gas, while he would \u201clove to do all those things, they\u2019re just interim steps along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we say the future is electric, this is the end game,\u201d said Nielsen. \u201cAnd no matter if we do a plug-in hybrid on it or put a fuel cell on it, the base core vehicle architecture remains relatively the same. So our investment right now in getting the core vehicle correct is what\u2019s key.\u201d<\/p>\n
While these other systems can be viable, manufacturers can only\u00a0put so many things on a vehicle, which is why Nielsen said that manufacturers need to get the battery packaging size down and increase the power density.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are key things that I want the industry to focus on. Companies put a lot of money into CNG, which is an interim technology, which could mean it might last for 25 or 30 years, but it\u2019s not the end game,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In terms of the need for a robust and universal electric charging infrastructure, DTNA is working with Charging Interface Initiative e. V. (CharIN), a global group that has focused on the development and establishment of a combined charging system that will be used as the global standard for charging battery powered electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharIN is well on their way to collecting proposals for a common interface and I would expect in the next month or so they start making some decisions on what that standard would look like and take it to the standardization authorities to get it officially recognized,\u201d said Nielsen.<\/p>\n
Aside from DTNA and other OEMs, the group includes utilities, industry \u201cdisruptors,\u201d and many of the shared suppliers that are working with truck makers like DTNA to bring electrification to the industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe table was big and we invited everyone to sit,\u201d said Nielsen, adding that many came with opinions from the end users on what they want when it comes to charging options. \u201cThey\u2019ve said: \u2018Don\u2019t make me have two charging systems. Don\u2019t make me have pigtails for a driver to run over and get lost. Just come back with a standard interface.\u2019 When you get unleaded fuel, you don\u2019t want the Shell station to have a different nozzle than the Exxon station. To get the industry to cooperate on a universal charger is not easy, but I think we\u2019re well on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n
During past truck development phases, DTNA would developed a truck for seven years, showing customers little hints here and there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith diesel and the smaller steps in evolution that we\u2019ve made in the past, that might have been possible, but now there is such a big change \u2013 electrics, fueling structure, the trucks driving differently \u2013 we think it\u2019s important that companies and their drivers experience it up front so there are no surprises,\u201d explained Nielsen. \u201cAnd in that co-creation process they come to us. We\u2019re meeting every three months with 30 customers in a group, we call them our electric vehicle council, and they get to hear from the customers driving the trucks \u2013 what was their experience, what did you think here \u2013 it\u2019s a real honest exchange, and they\u2019re coming back and giving us advice from standard charging interfaces to packaging to not letting the truck accelerate too fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
When DTNA developed the original Cascadia, the OEM put 24 million miles on its own trucks before putting them in the marketplace. DTNA will now \u201cshare\u201d those miles with its customers, allowing them a chance to give their input upfront, not just on paper, but by actually driving the trucks and coming back and telling the company what they think.<\/p>\n
While a number of new companies have unveiled their own electric vehicles into the marketplace, the process is more than \u201cjust putting batteries on a truck,\u201d said Nielsen.<\/p>\n
\u201cA vehicle is more than a powertrain. A customer wants his truck to be safe, dependable, reliable, which means everything from brake pads to the safety systems, to advance cruise control\/adaptive cruise control, analog brakes, and even how does the truck handle different road conditions. Through hours experience we\u2019ve been able to gather all that, like what\u2019s the road like in the outback of Australia, to what\u2019s it like to have to start up a truck when its minus 40 degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit in upper Canada \u2013 we have that kind of experience and we know what test conditions we are going to have to put these trucks through before a customer will be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nielsen added that DTNA has \u201clearned the hard way\u201d and other companies will need to experience the same growing pains before putting their vehicles out to market. To assist in any bumps along this new road, DTNA\u2019s network of service providers will be there to help ensure that customers will be experiencing as little downtime as possible. But the door is open to collaboration, as Nielsen sees the pros to bringing new minds and new ideas to this space.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re learning from them and they\u2019re definitely learning from us. We\u2019re excited about what some of the disruptors are bringing to the marketplace,\u201d said Nielsen.<\/p>\n
As fleets begin to put miles on these new electric trucks, resale value will be one of then considerations when pulling the trigger on a purchase. With many fleets still experiencing issues related to driver retention and driver recruitment, the promise of driving a new vehicle, albeit an electric one, might have an effect on how well they can find and keep drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has become a serious part of the business model,\u201d said Nielsen. \u201cThere has to be a market at the end of the first life cycle and after the second life cycle to make the equation work. The fleets want predictability. They don\u2019t want to have to guess whether it\u2019s worth X, Y or Z five years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big expense question in terms of reselling these trucks will be the need to replace the batteries before they sell the truck. Fleets will want to know how much life is left in the batteries, and whether or not they will have to spend $30,000 or $40,000 on a battery pack after purchasing a used electric truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody can answer that question yet, we have to get there,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n
by Stephane Babcock<\/a><\/p>\n
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