A pair of 19th-century horse stables served as a backdrop in Manhattan’s East Village as Daimler Trucks unveiled its new electric commercial trucks under the Fuso brand. Just as the horse and buggy was supplanted by motorized carriages?a battle that continues even today? the world’s largest truck manufacturer is hoping its EVs will lead the revolution in the electrification of transportation.
The company claims this model, the Fuso eCanter, is the world?s first series-produced all-electric light-duty truck?yes, long before Tesla?s much anticipated pickup and semi. Daimler plans to deliver 50 eCanter trucks to customers this year in the United States. The initial operators will range from the Bronx Zoo to UPS, the latter of which will run three of the trucks on routes that are yet to be determined.
Daimler Brands Share the Electric Charge
Shared R&D is expected to be an important aspect of these new all-electric trucks as the program spreads to other locations, into more vehicles, and across Daimler’s brands, which include not only Mercedes but also Freightliner trucks, Thomas buses, and Smart cars as well as Mercedes-Benz?s nascent EQ sub-brand. With the promise of quieting the urban din of diesel vehicles that deliver our daily bread, Daimler said it  hopes its experience with the medium-duty commercial box trucks will lead to better, more durable passenger EVs in the future. “Mercedes-Benz’s test cycles are not as brutal as ours,&#...