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Say, I’ve got an idea! Next time you see a truck driver for Daimler Trucks North America, go ahead and give them a handshake. But – and this is very important – before you do, make sure you have one of those gag buzzers on your palm. That way, when they get shocked, they’re also impressed. You’re essentially congratulating this trucker for assisting in surpassing half a million miles of travel on nothing but electricity. Thirty-eight battery-efficient models have totaled this amount of real-world coverage on their odometers. And that’s pretty damn impressive. The women and men behind DTNA are planning serial production of these electric trucks, as early as 2022.

The fleet began earlier in later 2018 and has found funding from the folks at South Coast Air Quality Management District.

What Models Has Daimler Been Using?

For starters, there’s the Freightliner eCascadia which is considerably a heavy-duty battery electric truck, Class 8 style. Following that, there is it’s sister truck, the eM2 106. It’s an all-electric solution best applicable for medium-duty segments. Both these models join Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner Electric School Buses. The latter of which is most formally known as a Jouley. Together, they compile maybe the widest model range o any OEM for electric commercial vehicles in North America.

The first generation eCascadia offers about 730 peak horsepower. Combine that with batteries powerful enough with a 550 kWh charge and that would be enough energy to go up to 250 miles. This also allows for the opportunity to recharge 80 percent in 90 minutes. Covering, overall, 200 miles.

Taking a look at the eM2 106, we can tell that this model is idyllic for local distribution of food and beverage goods, combo’d with a 325 kWh battery for 480 horsepower. The range, overall is 230 miles. The vehicle’s batteries recharge to get to 80 percent, in only 60 minutes. That’s enough to fulfill the range of an added 184 miles.