Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck is a fully electric big rig

Mercedes-Benz has introduced the Urban eTruck, a fully electric transport truck with a total admissible weight of up to 26 metric tons and travel range up to 200 kilometers. The model is said to be the first fully electric truck able to haul heavy loads, and it aims to help usher in a future of emissions-free transportation in the distribution sector. Daimler Trucks anticipates being able to bring this technology to market "at the beginning of the next decade."

Electric big rigs such as the Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck will bring several benefits to local communities as well as the environment in general: they will be nearer to silent on the sound level, for example, and won't pump smelly pollution into the air. The lower noise level and reduced pollution will make the trucks better suited for deliveries in cities particularly, where both noise and smog concerns are ample.

Mercedes-Benz anticipates the cost of batteries, not to mention the technology, improving greatly by the year 2025, helping make heavy load trucks like this feasible. The Urban eTruck features a trio of Lithium-ion battery modules able to facilitate a 200 kilometer range...something the auto maker says is suitable for a typical delivery tour.

Daimler Trucks & Buses' Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard said:

Electric drive systems previously only saw extremely limited use in trucks. Nowadays costs, performance and charging times develop further so rapidly that now there is a trend reversal in the distribution sector: the time is ripe for the electric truck. In light distribution trucks, our Fuso Canter E-Cell has already been undergoing intensive customer trials since 2014. And with the Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck, we are now electrifying the heavy distribution segment up to 26 tonnes. We intend to establish electric driving as systematically as autonomous and connected driving.