Big truck OEMs are expressing excitement over the prospects for future growth considering activity in last 2 years. Today, we are going to check on a few big manufacturers to gather sentiment on what we can expect from the heavy truck sector in months to come. To start, we will evaluate the battle between big names operating in the electric truck market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Nikola Aims at the Hydrogen Truck Market<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuing to push into new markets, Nikola Motor Company\nrecently announced it is developing the Nikola Tre, which will be a fully\nelectric hydrogen-powered day cab tractor. Their initial goal is to aim for\nhigh penetration in European markets. Named after the Norwegian word for\n\u201cthree,\u201d the Tre will also be made available in Asia and Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The company is banking on major innovations in the design to\ndrum up customer interest. In fact, it will be the first European zero-emission\ncommercial truck that includes options such as redundant braking, redundant\nsteering, redundant batteries, and a redundant fuel cell. What does this mean?\nThis is a truck that will be ready for true Level 5 autonomy, whenever that day\nwill come. The company is expecting full-scale production to start sometime\nbetween 2022-2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the company, the Tre will come equipped with\nanywhere from 500 to 1,000 horsepower mated to a 6×4 or 6×2 axle configuration,\nwith a final range of anywhere from 500 to 1,200 kilometers depending on the\noptions selected. If the company can deliver on these numbers, it will represent\na truly remarkable advance in renewable truck manufacturing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikola will begin testing early versions of the vehicle in\nNorway around 2020 and is currently in the preliminary planning stages on\nfiguring out where the proper location should be for a full-scale European\nmanufacturing facility. Of course, building a vehicle is one thing, but will\nNikola be able to build out the infrastructure required to make this vehicle\nwork? Nikola has a plan to address that question as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, the company is working with Nel Hydrogen out of\nOslo, Norway to provide a solution for building out hydrogen stations in the\nUnited States market. Since European hydrogen infrastructure is already\nwell-placed, Nikola is focusing on preparing for a successful rollout in the\nworld\u2019s largest heavy truck market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikola plans to have more than 700 hydrogen stations across the United States and Canada by 2028. They estimate that each station will be able to handle 2,000 to 8,000 kgs of daily hydrogen production. Their European stations, which have a major head start, should come on line around 2022 and are expected to cover the entirety of the European market no later than 2030. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nikola is boosted by a big initial order from Anheuser-Busch, who wants to integrate their vehicles into its dedicated fleet by no later than 2020. Having already made a big pre-order of the Tesla Semi, Nikola looks to also be a benefactor of the big dollars being thrown at these new initiatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With Nikola and Tesla moving forward with their plans for\nalternative fuel vehicles, legacy manufacturers aren\u2019t just sitting on their\nhands. Daimler, owner of the Mercedes and Freightliner namesakes, is pushing\nahead with their own plans and remains undeterred at the prospect of upstarts\nlike Nikola and Tesla stealing their thunder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daimler Expresses\nConfidence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Daimler Trucks North America has expressed confidence in a\nstrong North American buying economy. Even as they work at a breakneck speed to\ncover current demand, they are forging ahead with electric trucks, advanced\nsafety technologies, connectivity, and other large projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Daimler Truck\u2019s North American market share slipped a\nbut in 2018, to 38% of the market, company executives point to market\nchallenges as the primary factors for this slip. Specifically, they point to\nlingering instability in the overall supply chain. As we have reported before,\nwhen a manufacturer is running at peak volume and capacity, even small bumps in\nthe supply chain can cause big problems down the line. Fortunately, the supply\nchain situation has stabilized somewhat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some still wonder if the high truck order rate we are seeing\nin the market today represents \u201creal\u201d orders, or if those orders will suddenly\ndisappear if the economy doesn\u2019t continue doing well. According to figures\nreleased by DTNA and other heavy truck manufacturers, they are making inroads\non preventing that scenario from happening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As DTNA works to manage current demand, they are also\npressing ahead with electronic truck initiatives. With their Freightliner\neCascadias and Business Class eM2 106 trucks, DTNA is already in pre-production\ntesting. At their recent \u2018electric vehicle council\u2019 event, fleet\nrepresentatives got the chance to have hands on experiences with the new\nvehicles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Doubling down on their electric vehicle bet, DTNA has also\nmade a large investment in a North American company called Proterra, which is\nthe largest supplier of electric bus technology on the continent. While they\nwill likely utilize the technology gained in their bus manufacturing efforts,\nno doubt the underlying technologies will also undoubtedly make their way into\nDTNA\u2019s electric truck manufacturing methods as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n DTNA is banking on the fact that its electric trucks will\ncontinue looking like the trucks fleets are using today. At their electric\nvehicle council meeting, executives from the company expressed optimism that\ncustomers will be pleased with the fact that the new vehicles they are adopting\nwill still be familiar to them. They want to make the transition from diesel to\nelectric power as smooth as possible and are banking on the truck driver to\ndrive that adoption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trade cycles are also important to fleets making big\nequipment purchases. When manufacturing vehicles according to the same\nstandard, fleets don\u2019t have to worry about whether adopting has a negative\nimpact on their carefully curated trade cycles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Volvo Trucks Remains\nOptimistic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a new CEO at Volvo Trucks North America and he has\nexpressed confidence during an October 29 media briefing that the OEM\u2019s market\nposition remains strong. He reported that Volvo picked up 60,000 orders for new\ntrucks since sales started on the latest models over a year ago. The company\nhas also reported increasing market share as Volvo makes inroads in the\nlong-haul market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Specific numbers point to a two-percentage point rise in the\nOEM\u2019s Class 8 market share in the U.S. In 2017 it was 8.6% and in 2018 the\nnumber has jumped to 10.5%. Market share in Canada is doing even better, with a\ncurrent reading of 12.9%, up from 10.2% in 2017. With the Canadian market being\nsuch a mature market, a jump of this kind is certainly good news to the truck\nmanufacturer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the flipside, Volvo has cooled a bit south of the border,\nwhere their share in Mexico dropped from 2.3% in 2017 to 2.0% this year. Still,\nVolvo continues to express confidence in the market, noting that between 2017\nand 2019, Volvo will record a whopping 215% increase over orders over the same\nperiod in the past two-year cycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Volvo trucks entered the North American Market in 1981, and\nthe company points to a robust dealer network, putting them on par with other\nOEMs that have been operating in the market for far longer. Volvo has also been\nheavily investing in manufacturing capability in the United States, with a\nproduction facility in New River Valley currently under construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Volvo Trucks is not avoiding the electric truck\ngame. In fact, just this year they introduced their first all-electric truck\nfor commercial use, the Volvo FL, which will be primarily used for urban\ndistribution and refuse operations. Sales and production will be mainly\ntargeted towards the European market, expect to see them transition the\ntechnologies to the American market as business needs evolve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many may not know that Volvo Buses has been selling\nelectronic buses since 2010, with more than 4,000 sold over the past eight\nyears. A lot of the technologies developed in their electric bus efforts have\nbeen transitioned into use for their current e-vehicle endeavors. Volvo has\nalso partnered with the Drive Sustainably network to ensure that the materials\nneeded for their electric vehicles are extracted responsibly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And if you want to see an even stranger example of Volvo innovating where electric vehicles are concerned, check out their fully autonomous, cab-less truck called the Vera. Looking more like an advanced trailer attached to a flattened car, the Vera is a truly space-age example<\/a> of where the industry might be heading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n With so much movement within the OEM sector, heavy truck orders continuing to rise, and an economy continuing to do well, expect to see much more movement in the market. Who will come out on top as big manufacturers struggle for dominance? Only time will tell. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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