
Cummins has unveiled its own fully electric semi truck just weeks before the anticipated reveal of the Tesla electric semi truck.
The truck was unveiled on Tuesday, August 29th.
According to a Cummins press release, the new Cummins concept semi truck, named the AEOS, runs on its electric motor and a 140 kWh battery pack. The battery charges in only 1 hour, and may even come with a solar panel charging option. The engine is said to be as powerful as a conventional 12-liter fuel engine.
The concept truck reportedly weighs approximately 18,000 pounds, and can haul up to 44,000 pounds.
Since the unveiling, Cummins has mentioned possible rooftop solar panels to prolong range life, extra battery packs, and the possibility of an extended range model that uses a conventional diesel engine to charge the electric battery like a generator. At present, the AEOS will have a range of only 100 miles, making it useful for short-distance deliveries only.
The unveiling of Tesla’s new semi truck is still weeks away, but rumors have already spread about the Tesla electric semi’s 200-300 mile range. While 300 miles is still considered relatively short-range, it far surpasses the 100 expected from the Cummins electric semi truck.
Still, Cummins believes that they “are better positioned than any other company to win in new and emerging technologies and in new markets,” accoridng to Cummins’ president and chief operating officer Rich Freeland.
“We will leverage our deep industry and customer knowledge and our scale advantage to win,” Freeland added.
The AEOS is still a concept and will take several more years of development before it is ready to go into production, but Cummins seems confident in the quality of the truck.
“Over the past century, our ability to innovate and adapt has fueled our success and we are confident we are on the right path to do it again,” Freeland said.
Cummins expects to see improvements in the concept truck’s battery by the year 2020.
“We will harness our global technical footprint to continue to develop a wide variety of power technologies to bring our customers the choice and solutions that enable their success and contribute to a sustainable future,” said Jennifer Rumsey, chief technical officer for Cummins.