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Research Outline

Prepared for Damon | Delivered June 17, 2020

Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks Competitive Landscape

Goals

To determine the competitive landscape for electric heavy-duty trucks globally with a specific focus on the European Union and North America, including the available specifications for their electric heavy-duty trucks, the timing of their launch, their strategy, geographic coverage, and any delays in production due to COVID-19. This information will be used to develop a marketing strategy for a new entrant.

Early Findings

  • For the initial hour, we were able to create a spreadsheet for the electric heavy-duty trucks' competitive landscape. We have included the following details for Daimler and Tesla.
  • A link to the spreadsheet can be found here. 

    Daimler

    • Daimler has a 38% market share of North America’s approximately $39B heavy-duty truck market.
    • The company announced its Freightliner eCascadia, an all-electric 18-wheeler, in 2018, which has a 250-mile range and was designed for regional transportation and port service.
    • Another all-electric model from the company is the Freightliner eM2 106 which has a 230-mile range and is intended for more local distribution and deliveries.
    • Daimler also has an all-electric box truck (for urban deliveries) and a school bus.
    • The company announced that it is expecting to have the eCascadia and eM2 106 in production by the end of 2021 in its factory located in Portland, Oregon.

    Tesla

    • Tesla first announced the Tesla Semi in 2017 with anticipated production in early 2019, which has, however, been postponed to 2021.
    • The Tesla Semi, which will have a two-year payback period, includes two models, a 300-mile range with an expected base price of $150,000 and a 500 — 600-mile range with an expected base price of $180,000.
    • Some specifications for the Tesla Semis include four Model 3-derived electric motors allowing them to accelerate from 0 mph to 60 mph in 20 seconds with a full 40 tons load while traveling up a 5% grade.
    • The company claims that the Tesla Semi "uses less than 2 kilowatt-hours of power per mile, and a future "Convoy Mode" feature will allow multiple Tesla Semis to semi-autonomously slipstream, further reducing drag and increasing efficiency."
    • On April 29, 2020, the company, which is yet to announce the location of its Tesla Semi production factory, announced that it was delaying production and deliveries for its all-electric Semi trucks until 2021, making it two years behind schedule.
  • Some additional competitors in the electric heavy-duty trucks market include BYD, Chanje, Nikola Motors, Rivian, and Workhorse.