Mercedes to beat Tesla to market with eTruck

Mercedes-Benz has attempted to throw water on Tesla's 'Master Plan, Part Deux' by rolling out a near-production-ready version of a pure-electric truck that it hopes will beat Elon Musk's automotive brand to market at the beginning of next decade.

Called the Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck, the new heavy-duty goods vehicle is based on a three-axle short-wheelbase rigid truck platform, but instead of using diesel or LPG it runs on electricity.

Benz says the truck currently has a gross vehicle mass (the truck's total permissible weight) of 25 tonnes and can travel 200km between charges, making it ideal for inner-city work such as supermarket distribution.

The European Commission, however, is currently looking at raising the GVM of alternative-drive vehicles by one tonne, taking the Urban eTruck to the common industry standard of 26 tonnes.

Featuring two electric in-hub motors on the rear axle that are powered by a 212kWh battery, the Urban eTruck takes two to three hours to recharge, using a new 100kW charger, according to engineers.

The zero-emission truck, the German manufacturer hopes, will appeal to haulage operators working in cities considering banning diesel and restricting use of petrol-powered vehicles.

With the Benz truck revealed just days after Tesla unveiled plans for its own delivery truck, the German brand apparently wants to ensure it establishes itself in the heavy commercial market before Tesla and fellow US start-up, Nikola Motor, arrive.

It's not known if Benz's next task is to develop a long-range tractor unit to match the incredible 1470kW/5016Nm Nikola One. Thanks to its 18,650 lithium-ion cells, the Nikola One is claimed to have a range of nearly 2000km.

What Mercedes is keen to prove is that its eTruck is real and uses existing technology – the current prototype is thought to be fully operational and already testing at Daimler's test facilities.

As well as the eTruck, Daimler also showed off a smaller pure-electric truck made by Daimler Truck's Japanese sub-brand, Fuso.

Fresh from a six-month fleet trial in Germany and Portugal, the pure-electric second-gen Fuso eCanter comes with a 110kW/650Nm motor that runs off a 48kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

Again, engineers say the small truck is made for an urban environment and has a range of 100km. However, charging time is claimed to take just one hour for an 80 per cent charge.

Lower cost of ownership and increased durability are the star selling points of viable pure-electric trucks but, despite expected low rates of taxation, the increased purchase price has led to one analyst, IHS Markit, to predict electric trucks will only account for four per cent of US and European truck sales come 2025.