Electric Trucks and the Fairy Tale of Fast Startups vs. Slow Industry Dinosaurs
Why we didn’t miss the electric turning point in our business.
The battle for leadership in the fast developing market for electric trucks is often framed as new startups disrupting an old and slow-moving industry. On the occasion of the first customer delivery of the Freightliner eCascadia electric semi-trucks to bona fide customers, the first of their kind in real-world operations, here’s my insiders’ view to the contrary.
Freightliner eCascadia semi-truck reporting for customer duty
Daimler Trucks just delivered the Freightliner eCascadia semi-tractor to its customers Penske Truck Leasing and NFI during a public handover event organized by our team in Northern California. The trucks are part of our Electric Innovation Fleet, which consists of thirty early version heavy-duty eCascadia and medium-duty eM2 electric trucks for multiple customers. These customers are using these electric trucks in real-world operations now to see how they integrate into large-scale fleet operations. (In Silicon Valley lingo, this would be termed customer co-creation; in the trucking business, it’s been our approach all along to start with listening to our customers and then built to solve for their challenges.)
So, here is an old-industry incumbent — Daimler has been building Trucks for close to 130 years and Freightliner for over 70 years — gaining a heads up in the race toward electric truck market leadership. We’re already leaders in electric trucks in Europe with Mercedes-Benz and in Asia with our Fuso truck brand.
I have been leading global communications for the world’s largest manufacturer of trucks and buses for six years now and if there is one misperception that doesn’t seem to go away, it’s this: an established manufacturer like Daimler doesn’t “get it” when comes to electric trucks and buses. Only the start-ups are moving fast and decisively into the age of electric-powered transportation. Or so the fairy tale goes.
Now, you could say we have to do a better job of communicating our technology leadership. But the truth is that many observers, commentators and, of course, all of those startup evangelists just don’t want to listen. It’s just a much easier story to write about David vs. Goliath and, after all, don’t we like to root for the underdog challenger?
Let me take you inside our company a few years back to underline my point…
Master Plan vs. Master Truck
We’re nearing the end of 2015. For the longest time it seemed that moving a heavy-duty truck with an electric battery would be impossible: too heavy, less payload and, most importantly, way too expensive! But during the course of 2015 prices for lithium-ion battery cell technology were coming down fast while their capacity for energy storage was significantly going up. Looking at these developments down the road, the management team of our allegedly old-industry, slow-moving company quickly changed gears and started working on heavy-duty electric trucks.
The green light for the prototype of the Mercedes-Benz urban eTruck was given in December 2015, long before any other player had announced, let alone put a running heavy-duty eTruck on the road. It premiered in July 2016 in exactly the same week a certain disrupter announced its INTENTION to develop an electric truck. And by the way, Daimler Trucks’ Asian brand, FUSO, already had fully electric trucks on the road back in 2011 with the electric version of its best-selling Canter.
Taking our time doesn’t mean we’re past our time
At Daimler Trucks we know zero-emission propulsion of trucks and buses will contribute significantly to making the ever-growing need for transportation cleaner and more efficient. It is also our commitment to decarbonizing road transportation. You can read more about our approach here.
We also know what commercial customers need from a truck manufacturer: a top-notch vehicle, reliable parts and service as well as competitive cost of ownership. After all, they buy a truck to run a business, not to take it to the drive-through or the mall.
Contrary to popular belief-and as my view behind the scenes has shown-we did not start electrifying our trucks too late. Nor did we do so as a passive reaction to first-moving startups. So, that’s my take on the ascent of eTrucks, which I have witnessed firsthand from the very start. Let me know your thoughts and viewpoints on this. One thing is for sure: this will be an electrifying discussion!
