All posts tagged: trucks

MAN Trucks delivers first production eTGX electric semi

MAN Trucks delivers first production eTGX electric semi

Published by skeptic

MAN Truck & Bus reached another milestone on its path towards decarbonization by delivering its first regular production Ultra Low Liner eTGX electric semi truck to international logistics service provider Duvenbeck – who plan to add over 100 more such trucks to its fleet in total. (!) Duvenbeck signed a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase 120 of the new Volkswagen Group MAN electric semi trucks back in 2023, and now the first examples of the 40-ton e-trucks have arrived at Duvenbeck’s HQ. The delivery marks the latest big step towards that company’s planned electrification. “The MAN eTruck is an important step towards emission-free logistics,” says Bernd Reining, Senior Director Procurement, Duvenbeck. “It helps us to meet our customers’ requirements and protect the environment at the same time. Sustainability is part of our everyday practice.” The requirements Duvenbeck is referring to include the MAN trucks’ 3 meter interior height – a first for a battery-electric semi truck in this category. “With the Ultra Low Liner eTruck, MAN has developed a solution that is perfectly tailored to the requirements …

Reyes Beverage Group buys 29 Freightliner electric semi trucks

Reyes Beverage Group buys 29 Freightliner electric semi trucks

Published by skeptic

Daimler Truck North America has helped alcohol distributor Reyes Beverage Group deploy fully 29 zero-emission Freightliner eCascadia Class 8 electric semi trucks in its California delivery fleet. Reyes Beverage Group (RGB) plans to deploy the first twenty Freightliner electric semi trucks at its Golden Brands – East Bay and Harbor Distributing – Huntington Beach warehouses, marking the first phase in the company’s transition to a fully zero emission truck fleet by 2039. An additional nine eCascadia Class 8 HDEVs are scheduled for delivery to RBG’s Gate City Beverage – San Bernardino warehouse before the end of 2024. RBG’s decision to adopt the Freightliner eCascadia builds on its recent transition to renewable diesel and its ongoing idle-time reduction program. These electric vehicles (EVs) “go electric” will contribute significantly toward the company’s stated goal of reducing its carbon emissions 60 percent by 2030. These 2 trucks will save some 98,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually, and avoid putting nearly 700 metric tons of carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions into California’s air each year. “We are excited …

Nonprofit to buy 500 electric semi trucks by 2028 in 0M deal

Nonprofit to buy 500 electric semi trucks by 2028 in $250M deal

Published by skeptic

Maryland-based nonprofit Climate United announced its intention to spend $250 million to buy up to 500 electric semi trucks over three years in what the group is calling “the biggest single order of zero emission Class 8 trucks in the country.” First, we should state the obvious: as hard as it is to imagine a nonprofit with $250 million to spend on a fleet of 500 electric semi trucks – it’s even harder to imagine one that would need that many trucks. The plan, then, must be to do something else with the trucks. And so it is. Upon taking delivery of the zero emission trucks, Climate United intends to lease those vehicles back to trucking fleets at attractive rates, encouraging truckers that haul containers to and from California seaports to electrify somewhat sooner than later by reducing or eliminating the obstacle of BEV’s higher up-front costs compared to diesel. “High upfront costs make it difficult for independent owner-operators and small fleets to transition to all-electric,” explains Beth Bafford, CEO of Climate United. Climate United says …

Built to Last: How Ancient Roman Bridges Can Still Withstand the Weight of Modern Cars & Trucks

Built to Last: How Ancient Roman Bridges Can Still Withstand the Weight of Modern Cars & Trucks

Published by José

A for­eign trav­el­er road-trip­ping across Europe might well feel a wave of trep­i­da­tion before dri­ving a ful­ly loaded mod­ern auto­mo­bile over a more than 2,000-year-old bridge. But it might also be bal­anced out by the under­stand­ing that such a struc­ture has, by def­i­n­i­tion, stood the test of time — and, for those with a grasp of the his­to­ry of engi­neer­ing, that its ancient design­ers would have ensured its capac­i­ty to bear a load far heav­ier than any that would have crossed it in real­i­ty. With no sci­en­tif­ic means of mod­el­ing stress­es, as clas­si­cal-his­to­ry Youtu­ber Gar­rett Ryan explains in the new Told in Stone video above, they just had to build it tough. Key to that tough­ness were arch­es, “made of heavy blocks laid over a false­work frame until the key­stone was slot­ted into place.” From the late first cen­tu­ry, stonework was sup­ple­ment­ed or replaced by brick and Roman con­crete, a sub­stance much-fea­tured here on Open Cul­ture. We’ve also cov­ered the Roman bridges you can still cross today: Spain’s Puente de Alcán­tara (from the Ara­bic al-qanţarah, …

Amazon puts first electric semi trucks into ocean freight operation

Amazon puts first electric semi trucks into ocean freight operation

Published by skeptic

Southern California truck spotters will have plenty of electric semi trucks to watch out for as Amazon adds fifty Class 8 EVs to its commercial fleet. The fully electric Volvo semi trucks purchased will haul both heavy cargo containers and customer package loads in Amazon’s first- and middle-mile operations in California. The trucks will join the hundreds of last-mile electric vans from Ford and Rivian that are already delivering packages across the golden state. These are the first-ever electric trucks in the company’s ocean freight operations, also known as drayage operations. They’ve already started hitting the road at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with a dozen expected to be in service by the end of the year. “We’re proud to launch our largest fleet of electric heavy-duty vehicles yet in California,” said Udit Madan, vice president of Worldwide Amazon Operations. “Heavy-duty trucking is a particularly difficult area to decarbonize, which makes us all the more excited to have these vehicles on the road today. We’ll use what we learn from deploying these vehicles …

Amazon, Volvo team up on electric trucks at Southern California ports

Amazon, Volvo team up on electric trucks at Southern California ports

Published by skeptic

You’ve probably seen those cute blue, circle-eyed electric Amazon delivery trucks around your neighborhood. Now you’ll be passing by electric Amazon big rigs on the highway. The world’s dominant online retailer is rolling out 50 all-electric big rigs in Southern California, eight of them out of the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and White House national climate advisor Ali Zaidi are scheduled to trumpet the Amazon news at the Los Angeles port Tuesday afternoon. Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science. California has laid down mandates to dump diesel trucks and replace them with lower-carbon technologies in increasing numbers until 2035, when sale of new diesel trucks will be banned. The aim: to get rid of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Already, the state has banned brand new diesel trucks from seaports in California, although diesel trucks purchased through 2023 will be allowed inside for years under certain conditions. The batteries in the big rig tractors, manufactured by Volvo, can travel up to …

new hydrogen Ram Trucks will be made in Mexico

new hydrogen Ram Trucks will be made in Mexico

Published by skeptic

Stellantis will soon begin offering hydrogen-powered versions of its biggest RAM Trucks in North America — and they’ll be coming from Mexico. Stellantis expects to dramatically expand its hydrogen-powered vehicle lineup in coming years, growing from the 350 examples of its HFCEV delivery vans sold last year to more than 100,000 units annually by 2030. Most of those sales, it expects, will be driven by their commercial customers. In the US, that means RAM Trucks. “This year, we are starting production of larger vehicles in Poland,” Stellantis’ hydrogen program, Jean-Michel Billig, told German-language magazine Welt. “And development in North America should follow quickly – especially with the large RAM 5500 in a fuel cell version.” RAM Trucks 5500 RAM 5500 MD work truck; via RAM Trucks. If you’re not familiar with RAM’s medium duty commercial offerings, know that they’re the bigger, beefier cousins of the RAM pickup trucks you probably have seen. The 5500 series is, as the numerical designation implies, rated to both carry and tow significantly more mass — offering a stout 19,500 …

RIZON class 4 and 5 electric MD trucks arrive in Canada

RIZON class 4 and 5 electric MD trucks arrive in Canada

Published by skeptic

Daimler’s new, all-electric truck brand made its Canadian debut this week with the official market launch of its battery electric class 4 and 5 medium duty work trucks. After making its North American debut at the 2023 ACT Expo in Anaheim, California, Daimler Truck’s RIZON brand has continued on a steady march towards production with initial preorders set to open this June. But it won’t just be Americans who can order a new RIZON electric box truck – Canadians will be able to add them to their fleets at the same time. “Canada is very advanced regarding green energy and infrastructure and is a natural next step for RIZON’s second market,” explains Andreas Deuschle, the Global Head of RIZON. “We are very happy to bring our zero-emission solution to Canadian customers. They are proven OEM trucks with the latest technology from Daimler Truck.” Modernism and mandates RIZON electric truck interior; via Daimler Truck. Along with California and a handful of other US states, the Canadian government has plans to limit (or outright ban) the use of …

World’s first hydrogen station for big trucks opens – is it too late?

World’s first hydrogen station for big trucks opens – is it too late?

Published by skeptic

Image by FirstElement Fuels. FirstElement Fuels has opened the world’s first large-scale hydrogen fueling station for heavy-duty commercial trucks just outside the Port of Oakland. FirstElement is calling their new filling station, which opened to the public this week for tours and demonstrations, the first of its kind. Located near the Port of Oakland, the company claims its hydrogen pumps can “fill” a truck’s hydrogen tanks in as little as ten minutes, which works out (in their math) to as many as 200 trucks per day. As for customers, the company says there are 30 Hyundai Xcient semi trucks using the fueling station currently, as well as a number of Nikola hydrogen fuel-cell-powered trucks. A ceremony to mark the station’s opening was held Tuesday, and was attended by state officials including Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Tyson Eckerle, clean transportation advisor for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s business development office. Primary funding for the Oakland station was provided by CARB and the California Energy Commission. Eckerle notes that the US federal …

Electric trucks could cut over 0m in environmental costs

Electric trucks could cut over $500m in environmental costs

Published by skeptic

A University of Michigan study has highlighted the potential of combining automation and electric trucks to mitigate urban health impacts and environmental damages associated with long-haul trucking. The research, ‘Automation and electrification in long-haul trucking cuts urban health and environmental damages,’ found that combining electric trucks and automation could save more than $500m in environmental costs each year. Lead author Parth Vaishnav, assistant professor at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, explained: “It’s the first study we know of that simultaneously studies a realistic model of automation and a realistic model of electrification—things that are feasible in the near term—and assesses their environmental benefits.” Benefits of electric trucks and automation The decision to focus on automation and electrification stems from the complementary nature of these innovations. While electrification is feasible for shorter routes, challenges arise for longer distances due to current battery technology limitations. Conversely, automation excels in interstates but faces hurdles within urban environments. By amalgamating automation for highway driving with electrification for urban segments, the study aimed to target areas where tailpipe pollution …