The era of electric trucks is upon us with Tesla’s recently launched vehicle expected to be on the road by 2019. It will reportedly be able to travel up to 500 miles (805 kms) on a single charge. Global logistics majors UPS and DHL both recently announced their first orders for the Tesla Semi heavy duty truck. And Tesla is not the only carmaker to make the leap to electric commercial goods vehicles. Navistar CEO Troy Clarke said in a statement last week that the company would have more electric trucks on the road than Tesla by 2025. According to Clarke, the Navistar version would “run short distances and stop at a depot to recharge at the end of the day”. Furthermore, a new electric truck start-up company based in Los Angeles, Thor Trucks, has announced its plan to bring its heavy-duty electric vehicle to market before the Tesla hits the road in 2019. Thor Trucks’ prototype, the ET-One, will be built from parts taken from other tractor-trailers. It will have a range of 300 miles (483 kms) and a full load capacity of 80 000 pounds (40 tons). But is this a reality for SA in the near future? With Musk having announced plans to launch Tesla’s first electric car in South Africa by this year, it’s possible that it may launch its first electric truck here too – although the company remains tight-lipped on future plans. Transport economist Andrew Marsay told FTW that the Tesla Semi was said to be 83% of the diesel total life operating cost (capital, operating and maintenance) for single vehicles and 56% of that of convoy vehicles. He said the capital costs of these vehicles were very high. “Essentially, as with the cars, owners pay for the low operating cost. And only the really successful transport operators would be able to afford these vehicles and make them work well for them.” Marsay added that as with the electric cars, only the wealthy could afford to experiment but eventually the technology would spread to the mainstream. He pointed out that environmental performance for electric trucks was critical because even if the operating costs were similar there were advantages over rail. “This could be a bigger issue than cost because if the trucks become viable, especially if optimised as part of a convoy or fleet, this would further confirm road’s advantage in flexibility over rail,” said Marsay. He emphasised that it was not just about running trucks but managing a strong supply chain. “To make a high cost, high technology solution worthwhile, every other stage of the supply chain will need to be highly efficient too,” said Marsay
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To make a high cost, high technology solution worthwhile, every other stage of the supply chain will need to be highly efficient too. – Andrew MArsay
