Southern California Edison Begins Testing of Battery-Electric Freightliner eCascadia

Portland, Ore. – Nov. 16, 2020 – Southern California Edison  (SCE), the primary electricity supply company for much of southern  California, recently welcomed a Freightliner eCascadia from the  Freightliner Customer Experience (CX) Fleet to begin a three-month  testing trial of the battery-electric Class 8 truck.

“SCE’s testing of the eCascadia is a major step down the path of  achieving our company’s fleet electrification goals,” said SCE principal  manager of Fleet Asset Management Todd Carlson, who manages the  company’s fleet of more than 6,200 vehicles.

SCE is the first utility to test an electric truck from Freightliner  and will use the eCascadia for material transport, moving heavy  equipment like transformers, wire reels and switch gears from an  Irwindale, California warehouse to SCE service centers and storage  yards. SCE’s parent company, Edison International, recently published  the 2030 goal to electrify 30 percent of their medium-duty vehicles and  pickup trucks and eight percent of their heavy-duty trucks.

Freightliner’s CX Fleet is partially supported by a partnership  between Daimler Trucks North America and the South Coast Air Quality  Management District (South Coast AQMD) which focuses on improving air  quality in large portions of Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside and  San Bernardino counties, including the Coachella Valley.

“Projects like Freightliner’s CX Fleet are helping to demonstrate the  viability of all-electric heavy-duty trucks and showing companies that  zero-emission options will soon be here to meet their truck replacement  needs,” said Wayne Nastri, South Coast AQMD’s Executive Officer. “These  demonstrator fleets are a critical step for transitioning trucks to  cleaner technologies and helping us to achieve our clean air goals for  the South Coast Basin.”

When it enters series production in 2022, the eCascadia will be sold  by Freightliner dealers like Velocity Truck Centers who operate seven  new truck dealers in Southern California and support the Freightliner CX  Fleet by providing vehicle service and fleet management.

“The future of zero-emission trucks is approaching quickly and  Velocity is proud to lead the charge, along with our great customers,  and our partners at Freightliner and Daimler Trucks North America,” said  Scott Zeppenfeldt, senior vice president of operations, Velocity Truck  Centers. “While there are a lot of unknowns in transitioning to an  electric fleet, supporting our customers in these types of projects are  an integral step to starting the journey.”

Freightliner’s CX Fleet is comprised of eight early series  development trucks meant to test the integration of battery-electric  vehicles into large-scale fleet operations. Feedback from Freightliner  customers will help fine-tune final driving parameters like battery  management software. Early examples of customer-driven eCascadia design  include charging port placement on the truck, human-machine interface  (HMI) controls and more. To-date, a diverse array of commercial trucking  fleets including the nation’s largest for-hire fleets, grocery  distributors, and less-than-load carriers have participated in the CX  Fleet, with more customers participating in advance of series  production.

“It’s critical that we collaborate with customers across multiple  segments to further our understanding of how commercial battery-electric  trucks will be part of a long-term solution in CO₂-neutral  transportation,” said Richard Howard, senior vice president, on-highway  sales and marketing, Daimler Trucks North America. “Our customers  provide important, continuous feedback that contributes to our ongoing  design and purposeful innovation of these trucks, and together we will  lead the future.”

About Freightliner Trucks

Freightliner Trucks is a division of Daimler Trucks North America  LLC, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and is the leading heavy-duty  truck manufacturer in North America. Daimler Trucks North America  produces and markets Class 5–8 trucks and is a Daimler company, the  world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer. More information is  available at www.Freightliner.com.

About Velocity Vehicle Group

We can help you with any aspect of the commercial truck  industry. From sales to free grant advice, our goal is to be the one  stop shop experts for all truckers, owner operators, fleets &  companies alike. If you are in the Southwest of the US, you are in  Velocity country and we will take care of you.     

 Our company runs on the 3 pillars of Speed, Value and Trust.

  Speed because we need to keep you on the  road – we are focused on getting you in and out of our service shops as  quickly as possible, delivering your parts as quickly as possible, and  getting you the right truck when you need it. 

  Value because we have to be competitive to drive your profitability.                

 Trust because we want to be your partner  for all of your commercial truck needs, acting with integrity and your  best interests at heart.               

About South Coast AQMD

South Coast AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange  County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside  counties, including the Coachella Valley. For news, air quality alerts,  event updates and more, please visit www.aqmd.gov, download the  award-winning app, or follow @SouthCoastAQMD on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.