Shane has been with TR Group since 2014 as our National Sales Manager. He is responsible for leading the lease sales team, focusing on growing our asset base and long term revenue. Moreover, he leads a team passionate for trucks and people, making sure to match great customers with the right vehicles, each and every time.
Daimler Trucks and the advancements in ZEVs
In July 2022, Daimler Trucks hosted a study tour for our Managing Director, Andrew Carpenter. This was in and around the Stuttgart area in Germany to review their Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) developments.
Their clear direction on battery electric technology for local and short haul work and hydrogen fuel cell trucks for long haul work was very much a “horses for courses” approach – and like everything that the Daimler Trucks/Mercedes Group does, it was impressive.
In each case, they have trucks already in operation and are being evaluated. The smaller battery-electric truck, the E-Actros 4 and 6 wheelers are now on the market and available to purchase – coming with a range of around 300 kilometres and a payload of approximately 10 tonnes.
The medium-haul battery electric E-Actros is still under evaluation although with an imminent market release – while the hydrogen fuel cell long haul truck is expected to be in full market production by 2030.
Although the technology has been invented and is already working, there is a significant challenge in successfully moving to the large-scale production of these vehicles. As they say, “we have to go from producing one every ten minutes to ten every one minute”. This means building new factories, creating new tools and robotics, establishing new supplier relationships, establishing new production processes, re-training production workers, and at the same time, establishing a successful financial outcome. Their aim is that they can build ZEVs at a price that “matches the economics of diesel trucks from the buyers’ point of view”.
There is little doubt that there will be high-quality ZEVs, at economical prices, in the future, led by the good people of Daimler Trucks. We look forward to offering these types of heavy commercial vehicles to our customers to fulfil our goal of delivering a more sustainable future for our industry.