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Cummins beats Tesla to the punch by revealing electric semi truck
- bfu 9y ago> Cummins does not plan to assemble the trucks, but instead views itself as a supplier of the battery and driveline system.
- EADGBE 9y agoThis isn't a big deal. There's a whole industry devoted to making cabs for rolling chassis, they're called Glider Kits[1]. This is smart on Cummin's part, since they own most of the drivetrain anyway. [1] https://www.fitzgeraldgliderkits.com/what-is-a-glider-kit/ https://www.fitzgeraldgliderkits.com/what-is-a-glider-kit/ (This is a particular manufacturer, but many companies offer these cabs)
- EADGBE 9y agoCool stuff, but as with anything electric; battery range and charge time are always going to be the holdouts. Especially for trucks; who commonly go 400-800 miles a day. And time is money: if they can't recharge completely in the time it takes for a normal break they're not going to want to do it. The article mentions short hauls and local freight, but even so, 100 miles is pretty limiting to those figures, even with a single-operator day-cab setup. Torque-wise, electric makes a ton of sense, even if it's a hybrid.
- jetti 9y agoInteresting. There article says that it would be a Class 7 semi but Wikipedia [1] puts it as a Class 8 based on the weight limit given. I can imagine that this could catch on in the construction industry to pull waste/concrete from job sites. There is downtime between hauls so that you could re-charge and you aren't necessarily driving very far so you may get multiple trips between charges. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_classification#Table_of_...