Nikola

Path to electrification not straight to linehaul: Mack

OAKLAND, CA - Mack Trucks continues to see a healthy future for diesel engines, even as alternatives like electrification begin to emerge. "Diesel today, it's performing extremely well. It's cleaner than it's ever been, it's robust, it's versatile," said Roy Horton, director - product strategy, during a briefing in Oakland, California. As for talk about electric trucks? "It's almost a little bit of an uphill battle there." Electrification is "on the bubble, and it's something everyone is looking at," he said, admitting that the recent unveiling of Elon Musk's Tesla Semi attracted attention. "It's definitely going to be part of our future." Just not for longhaul. Not right away. Mack believes the earliest adopters of electrification will be operations with the chance to charge at a home base and not depend on general infrastructure for fuel. That includes refuse, local delivery, and public transportation fleets.