Daimler just unveiled an electric truck to take on Tesla's Semi
- Daimler unveiled two electric trucks on Thursday, one of which will compete directly with Tesla's semi-truck, the Semi.
- The Freightliner eCascadia will have a range of 250 miles and be able to receive 200 miles of range from a 90-minute charge.
- Tesla's Semi will have double the range of the eCascadia, 500 miles, and be able to receive up to 400 miles of range from a 30-minute charge.
Daimler unveiled two electric trucks on Thursday, one of which will compete directly with Tesla's semi-truck, the Semi.
The heavy-duty Freightliner eCascadia will have a 550 kWh battery pack with a range of 250 miles and produce 730 horsepower. The vehicle will be able to receive 200 miles of range from a 90-minute charge.
Tesla's Semi will have double the range of the eCascadia, 500 miles, and be able to receive up to 400 miles of range from a 30-minute charge. It will also be able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in five seconds without any cargo and in 20 seconds while carrying 80,000 pounds of cargo.
In February, Martin Daum, the head of Daimler's truck and bus division, cast doubt on Tesla's ability to deliver on the Semi's impressive specs in an interview with Bloomberg.
"If Tesla really delivers on this promise, we'll obviously buy two trucks - one to take apart and one to test because if that happens, something has passed us by," he told the publication. He also implied that the Semi's specs would break the laws of physics.
On Thursday, Daimler also revealed the medium-duty Freigthliner eM2, which is designed for local and last-mile delivery services and will have a range of around 230 miles.
Daimler will give 30 electric trucks from its "electric innovation fleet" to early customers by the end of the year, and will begin series production for the eCascadia and eM3 in 2021. It's unclear if the vehicles from the electric innovation fleet will consist of prototypes or resemble the production versions of the trucks. Daimler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"We are the undisputed global leader of the trucking industry and we intend to remain in that position with electric trucks and buses," the company said in a press release. "We were first-movers on electric trucks and strive to set the standard in each relevant segment."