Electric Fuso Canter coming to U.S. in 2017

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Fleet Owner  /  September 23, 2016

With new advances in battery technology, Daimler sees bright future for urban EV delivery trucks.

Once skeptical about the practicality of electric-powered commercial vehicles, Daimler Trucks is now planning to bring the Fuso eCanter to the U.S. market next year and to follow with production of electric light trucks from its van group by 2018.

“Ten years ago I saw no market for e-trucks,” said Daimler Truck head Wolfgang Bernhard during a press conference at the IAA 2016 commercial vehicle show. “What happened? Battery technology has change drastically driven by the cellphone industry. There’s been a 2½-fold increase in performance and 2½-fold decrease in cost.”

Still unconvinced that there are long-haul e-trucks in the near future, Bernhard now believes the technology has reached the tipping point for urban delivery applications. And while longer average route differences and less urban density in the U.S. are challenging for EVs, he said significant customer demand exists, so the company will begin limited sales of its eCanter here next year with broader availability in 2018 and even possible local production.

The electric truck will have the same horsepower and torque as the diesel Cantor, as well as the same 7,500-lb. GVW.  Payload will be around 4.6 tons depending on the number of batteries installed. Both mechanical and electric PTS’s will be available for refrigeration units and other powered accessories.

Daimler also used IAA to showcase two all-electric concept vehicles – a heavy-duty Urban eTruck and a package delivery Vision Van – as well as announced a commitment from the Daimler Van group to begin series production of an electric commercial van by 2018.

American fleet interest in buying e-trucks is “very high, even higher than in Japan,” according to Marc Llistosello, head of Daimler Trucks Asia and the Fuso brand. The traditional barriers to adoption have been limited range and fast-charging infrastructure as well as initial cost, he said at a press conference during IAA. He believes the eCanter and some new support programs address those issues.

Battery advances give this new generation electric Canter a range of 100 km when it’s equipped with five modular battery packs, and work is ongoing to extend that to 150 km, Llistello said. And customers can choose to fit the truck with as few as three battery packs or as many as six depending on their range and payload needs.

As for pricing, Fuso says there will be a two- to three-year ROI on the price premium over a diesel powered Canter.  The company also plans to address residual value concerns by leasing the battery packs separately and replacing them with new, presumably more advance batteries every two or three years.

While every eCanter will come with an AC charging system, the 12 hours required to fully recharge the vehicle won’t suit fleets that don’t park trucks overnight.  Faster DC “superchargers” reduce that time to around an hour, but cost considerably more to install. So Fuso expects to help subsidize the building of that infrastructure with other willing partners in a few markets where there is enough density to warrant it, according to Llistosello. He indicated that California would be a logical location for a supercharging network.

The eCanter will be introduced next year simultaneously in the U.S., Japan and Germany with a soft launch and “small-scale production,” Llistosello said.

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Daimler Trucks Asia Presents World Premiere of Fuso’s eCanter at IAA 2016

Daimler Press Release  /  September 21, 2016

Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA) presents the world premiere of the small series of FUSO’s light-duty electric truck “eCanter” at the 2016 IAA international commercial vehicle show in Hannover, Germany.

• Through customer trials in real-life conditions, the zero emission FUSO eCanter proved to be technically reliable and economic, with enough mileage and payload for daily use
• The small series will be delivered to customers in the US, Japan and Europe from late 2017

• DTA will further increase its global presence in mature markets and growth markets with the application of Daimler’s cutting-edge technologies in electric trucks and robust and powerful trucks

• Mr. Marc Llistosella, President and CEO of MFTBC and Head of Daimler Trucks Asia, said: "The new all-electric FUSO eCanter underlines our commitment to thinking ahead and developing sustainable and reliable transportation solutions to benefit our customers, society and even our planet. DTA has been the center of competence for hybrid and electric technologies within Daimler Trucks. Based on our successful customer trials, we will bring the latest innovations to the world.”

Hannover, Germany; Kawasaki, Japan; Chennai, India – Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA) presents the world premiere of the small series of FUSO’s light-duty all-electric truck “eCanter” at the 2016 Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) - the biggest international commercial vehicle show to be held from 22nd to 29th September in Hanover, Germany.

Six years after the first generation of the all-electric truck premiered at the 2010 IAA, the third generation model will be presented with further technical developments. These developments come from customer trials of the second generation vehicle, the “FUSO Canter E-CELL”, done in 2013 in Japan, 2014 in Portugal and currently in Stuttgart, Germany. The continuous trials have enabled Daimler Trucks Asia to design the zero-emission FUSO eCanter to cater to the specific needs of customers and make it perfectly suitable for everyday use in short range delivery and inner city transportation.

The eCanter can travel a range of more than 100km, exceeding the average distance that many short-radius distribution trucks usually travel per day – for example, in Japan, on an average, 80% of light-duty inner-city delivery trucks travel about 50km a day.

Based on this knowledge gained from the customer trials, DTA has developed a modular concept for batteries that offers more mileage and/or more payload depending on the individual needs of customers. A package of three to five lithium-ion batteries has been lined-up with a capacity of 13.8kWh each. Five battery packs are fitted onto the vehicle with a permissible gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 7.5 tons while securing 100kms of daily mileage, giving customers a flexible option based on their usage. Charging the batteries at 200 volts takes around seven hours, while the use of a rapid DC charging system can reduce it to less than one hour (73kW, 80% of battery capacity). Key components also include an electric motor with an output of 185kW and maximum torque of 380Nm.

In addition, the FUSO eCanter has reached a payload of 2-3 tons, an amount necessary for customers to operate their fleet efficiently. At the same time, DTA’s preliminary analysis has shown that the model can save about 1,000 Euro per10,000km and cut operating costs by up to 64 percent compared to conventional diesel trucks. Coupled with a reduction in maintenance costs of around 30 percent, this makes the vehicle an economical solution for customers who would be able to pay back the initial cost in two years’ time.

Mr. Marc Llistosella, President and CEO of MFTBC and Head of Daimler Trucks Asia, said: "The new all-electric FUSO eCanter underlines our commitment to thinking ahead and developing sustainable and reliable transportation solutions to the benefit of our customers, society and even our planet. DTA has been the center of competence for hybrid and electric technologies within Daimler Trucks. Based on our successful customer trials, we will bring the latest innovations to the world.”

The small series of eCanter will be delivered from late 2017 in the US, Japan and Europe to selected customers who are related to inter-city delivery services. Being a front runner in the fully-electric light-duty truck segment, DTA has so far invested 40mn Euro in the development of electric driving including research and development. The zero emission model will be manufactured at DTA’s state-of-the art production plant in Tramagal, Portugal and Kawasaki, Japan.

Connectivity for eCanter

The eCanter at the IAA will give visitors a glimpse into the future of Daimler Commercial Vehicles’ connectivity technologies. This includes not only a digital key and meter console but also a digital control panel in the center console. Other digitalized features include LED lights, air conditioning, music player and navigation. The Connectivity concept for Daimler’s booth at the event pertains to three main features: vehicle health, travel history and task allocation. Vehicle health is the ability to scan various parts of the vehicle to detect abnormalities. Travel history allows a driver to see how much distance has been covered per day as well as the status of charge over the driving period. There is also data to show the distribution and energy efficiency of drivers’ journeys. Task allocation describes the interaction between the digital control panel and the fleet manager’s personal computer. It can send tasks to a driver who can then automatically relay the pick-up and delivery time back to their fleet manager.

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