BYD announced so far the largest order for all-electric trucks outside of Asia, placed in the US by a Swedish freight technology company Einride.
In total, 200 Class 8 BYD 8TT battery-electric day cab trucks to be deployed over the course of the coming twelve months starting in February.
All of the vehicles will be assembled in Lancaster, California, where BYD produces also electric buses. The majority of the trucks will be the third generation version, which was unveiled in Fall 2021.
According to the press release, the BYD 8TT will be equipped with a 563 kWh battery (LFP) and offer a range of up to 200 miles. Fast charging power peaks at 185 kW (CCS1 connector).
This type of order is a big win for BYD, which already sold over 200 trucks in the US and more than 10,000 globally (the vast majority in China).
Einride emerged several years ago as a developer of autonomous trucks (T-pod) – without the driver’s cab – which were demonstrated in 2019 and 2020. Since then, the company evolved and now is relying on other electric vehicles, focusing more on its “technology platform” for fleets. The autonomous driving tech is still under development.
“Einride will utilize the vehicles to grow their global fleet of connected electric vehicles to serve their U.S. customers throughout key transport regions. Saga, Einride’s technology platform that plays the critical role in ensuring electric shipping is efficient and optimized, will power the full fleet of signed BYD vehicles.”
Niklas Reinedahl, General Manager North America at Einride said:
“As we continue to expand our U.S. operations and provide our end-to-end shipping solution at scale, having an OEM partner that is able to collaborate with us in delivering best-in-class electric vehicles is imperative. This fleet of vehicles, which will be delivered at an industry leading pace and volume, will allow us to efficiently provide electric, cost-competitive and emissions-free transportation to our customers.”
Patrick Duan, Senior Vice President, BYD North America said:
“This historic order will give customers an up-close look at Einride’s industry-transforming intelligent operating system and our safe and reliable zero-emission battery electric trucks. BYD Class 8 electric trucks showcase a strong combination of cutting-edge high tech and durability providing customers with the performance they desire while setting a new gold standard for driver comfort and safety.”
Einride expands also in Europe, where in December 2021 the company announced an order of 120 Mercedes-Benz eActros electric trucks (in series production since October 2021).
The first eActros 300 and eActros 400 (with respectively 3 or 4 battery packs) are expected to be delivered in mid-2022.
According to the press release, the eActros’ single battery pack is 112 kWh total and 97 kWh usable, which means respectively 336 kWh (291 kWh net) and 448 kWh (388 kWh net). The effective range is about 400 km (250 miles) in the case of eActros 400.