The challenges facing electrification‘s transition from trucking science project to viable technology are plentiful, but all the parties with skin in the game are doing their part to prod that process along.
Motiv Power Systems Founder and CEO Jim Castelaz, speaking as part of a panel at Green Truck Summit in Indianapolis Tuesday – and whose company has a number of electric powertrain options in the medium-duty segment – says the “movement of goods and people is a fantastic segment for the electric vehicle.”
People, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America Alternative Fuels Project Manager Jasmin Kluge says, will be key elements of the three “megatrends” – urbanization, clean energy and technology development – that will continue to define the future of commercial electrification.
“The electrification of trucks will be an important driver for clean cities,” she says, noting Fuso’s eCanter was first showcased in 2016 and full series launch is expected next year. “The electric ecosystem has to be created in partnership with customers, technology providers and municipalities.”
Castelaz pegged ideal use cases for electrics as start and stop applications with fixed daily routes who are domiciled in a depot, considerations that Castelaz says eliminate range anxiety and reliance on a national charging infrastructure. Motiv debuted its electric school bus in 2013 and followed that with an industry-first electric refuse truck the following year before rolling out an electric step van in 2015.
Michael Berube, the acting deputy assistant secretary of sustainable transportation, energy efficiency and renewable energy for the U.S. Department of Energy says the average cost of a battery pack currently sits at about $197 per kilowatt hour. He estimates Tesla’s costs to be about $10 fewer.
Castelaz says anything under $200 per kilowatt hour is a savings in the medium duty segment versus a fossil fuel powertrain because fleets spend more money on fuel than they do on the truck itself.
