Cummins beats Tesla to the party, reveals first electric semi designed for short hauls

[William Gayde]

Rumors of a Tesla semi truck have swirled for a while with CEO Elon Musk even going so far as to announce a September unveiling date. Not to be outdone, industrial manufacturer Cummins has unveiled its all-electric big rig as August winds down.

Traditionally, Cummins has been known for their heavy duty diesel engines that power many of the world's trucks, generators, boats and other industrial equipment. By revealing their Urban Hauler Tractor now, they may be looking to steal some of Tesla's thunder.

The truck, known as AEOS, is fully electric and can haul about 44,000 pounds. Powering all of this is a 140 kWh battery pack. With a range of 100 miles, Cummins is positioning the AEOS as a short haul truck for inter-city transport. Depending on the charging setup, a full charge can occur in as little as one hour.

Looking to the future, Cummins hopes to reduce the charging time to 20 minutes by 2020 as battery technology improves. They also have plans to launch a hybrid truck with a range of about 300 miles that cuts emissions by 50 percent when compared to standard diesel semis. Power-saving and drag-reducing features like roof-mounted solar panels, regenerative braking and low rolling resistance tires can increase that range even more.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/70787-cummins-beats-tesla-party-reveals-first-electric-semi.html

 

[GeforcerFX]

Very cool, there will be a market for these all electric city haulers as more and more cities try to reduce diesel vehicle usage in the city.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Very cool, there will be a market for these all electric city haulers as more and more cities try to reduce diesel vehicle usage in the city.

Maybe - nowhere in this article is there a mention of price. No one is going to want to pay $.50 extra for a box of crackers because it was delivered to the store by an electric truck.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Time will tell, but I don’t think this is going to be all that successful initially. Think range anxiety is bad for individuals, I imagine it would be worse for businesses delivering goods. It costs a lot of money for your driver to be spending hours “refueling”.

 

[Neojt]

Are those Porche Macan tail lights

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

"as battery technology improves".
I'm certainly not holding my breath.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Are those Porche Macan tail lights

No. They belong to the AEOS.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Maybe - nowhere in this article is there a mention of price. No one is going to want to pay $.50 extra for a box of crackers because it was delivered to the store by an electric truck.

But if there is no other way for it to be delivered then they have no choice, cost wise they are going to need a big deal with coke or pepsi to get the scale they need to keep prices low. There's enough health food companies around anymore they would prob be all over a zero emissions delivery vehicle for moving food from warehouse to markets in the city, and people will pay 4 times the normal cost for food if it says organic on it