Daimler has unveiled an all-electric big rig truck it promises to have in production in 2021, as the German automaker mounts a major challenge to European manufacturers and Tesla.
Daimler's Freightliner eCascadia is an 18-wheeler with a 400 km range, aimed for regional distribution and port services, compared to Tesla's Semi - expected to be built by 2020 - which it says will be suited to longer-distance runs with a 800 km range.
Daimler said it will start delivering prototypes to customers later this year for field-testing and expects to have the trucks in production by 2021.
Daimler also unveiled a medium-duty Freightliner eM2 106, with a range of up to 370 km, designed for local distribution, such as beverage delivery, which some analysts see as the "sweet spot" of the emerging electric truck market.
Truckmaker Navistar and its partner Volkswagen aim to launch their own medium-duty truck in North America by late 2019.
Daimler, with a $US66.4 billion market capitalisation and best-known for its luxury Mercedes-Benz brand, has a 40 per cent share of the roughly $US39 billion North American heavy-duty truck market.
"While electric truck sales will be fairly significant in coming years, I don't think it will displace diesel anytime soon especially in highway, long-haul trucking where obviously battery capacity and range anxiety present itself," said Tim Denoyer, senior analyst at ACT Research, a commercial vehicle consultancy.
Daimler Trucks North America Chief Executive Officer Roger Nielsen said the truck's payload had been curbed by the size of batteries.
Stuttgart-based Daimler will invest more than 2.5 billion euros ($A3.8 billion) in R&D at its truck operations by 2019, with more than 500 million euros earmarked for electric heavy-duty commercial vehicles, connectivity and self-driving technology.
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