Daimler’s new RIZON electric truck feels like driving a car

Daimler lately launched a brand new class 4-5 medium-duty electrical truck model, RIZON, and we acquired an opportunity to kick the tires and drive one round.

We got here away impressed at how effectively it drives (for an 18k GVWR automobile) and the way snug it looks like it will be on lengthy shifts.

Rizon is a brand new model from Daimler Vans focusing totally on zero-emissions within the class 4-5 house. Vans of this measurement don’t require business driver’s licenses, and also you’re extra more likely to see them round your neighborhood, doing native supply duties, tools leases, shifting companies, and the like. So it’s good to have clear, quiet operation as a substitute of noisy and pungent diesel automobiles.

Daimler has been within the electrical truck recreation for just a few years now, with its Freightliner eCascadia, eM2 and different automobiles, which we’ve driven before. However Freightliner as a model is barely partially electrical, whereas Rizon plans to solely ever make zero-emission vans.

To date, Rizon has 4 fashions accessible – two sizes, designated e16 and e18 (16k and 18k pound GVWR), with two battery configurations, designated as M and L. The “M” batteries have two 41kWh LFP battery modules, whereas the “L” batteries have three. The vary will rely closely on software, configuration, and cargo, so it’s laborious to place a single quantity on it, however the “M” variations needs to be good for 70-110 miles and the “L” ones for 110-160 miles or so.

One factor to notice is that the smaller “M” battery is 1,100 kilos lighter than the “L” battery, leaving extra of your whole 16k or 18k GVWR to be devoted to payload, reasonably than dragging round additional batteries. So going with that one will be useful if the payload is extra essential than the vary for automobiles with shorter mounted routes.

We acquired to take a brief drive within the e18L model at an occasion hosted by Velocity Truck Facilities at Irwindale Speedway, the place we additionally drove Battle Motors’ electric garbage truck and the first-ever electric street sweeper. Occasions like these assist fleet managers get a way of how these EVs will work.

We solely had a partial load although, within the type of an outdated 12-cylinder diesel engine strapped to the mattress. So our expertise wasn’t precisely what it will really feel like totally loaded, however there was at the least one thing chunky within the again.

The driving expertise was clean and nimble, nothing like what you’d anticipate from a truck. Although the automobile has a comparatively low 175 peak horsepower (which is within the ballpark of different class 4-5 vans – they sometimes aren’t meant to maintain excessive speeds), it has loads of torque at 317lb-ft. And a flat EV torque curve means you don’t must go gear-hunting by a clunky transmission.

Acceleration feels faster than you’d get from a diesel truck, smoother because of the lack of gears, and quieter because of the lack of a loud diesel engine. And clean and quiet is essential – a rumbling diesel engine can add a whole lot of stress to the physique over an extended workday.

Regenerative braking is adjustable, and on the best setting is powerful sufficient, although we’d have preferred it to be a little bit stronger (particularly if the truck was totally laden). The turning radius was additionally spectacular, particularly on such a big automobile.

Rizon has put a premium on driver consolation in its vans, with options which can be extra usually seen on shopper automobiles than business ones. The vans have heated seats and steering wheels, three comparatively snug seats with lumbar assist for the driving force, and keyless begin. A touchscreen show covers infotainment features.

Loads of security options come commonplace, like blind spot warnings, emergency brake help, and lane departure warnings.

Rizon makes use of J1772 and CCS for charging, with 19.2kW AC charging assist and 104kW DC. On a category 4 or 5 truck, 19.2kW AC charging will be sufficient for an in a single day cost for many functions.

These decisions make set up simpler than having to put in huge, costly DC chargers and pull the excessive ranges of amperage required to feed them (and commensurate demand charges from some utilities). Presently, plenty of fleets are attempting to determine how one can incorporate EVs, particularly with huge new truck laws on the California state and US federal level, and charging has been in focus as a possible level of resistance.

One quirk right here is that Rizon has not but dedicated to NACS. We’ve seen an enormous wave of assist for NACS within the light-duty world, however medium- and heavy-duty automobiles haven’t been fast to hop on board the NACS bandwagon, principally as a result of lots of them are ready for the upcoming Megawatt Cost System (MCS), which Daimler, Tesla and plenty of others are concerned in creating.

However Rizon doesn’t plan to make use of MCS, so they might make the swap to NACS. And it may very well be a useful transfer for business prospects as a result of one good factor about NACS over J1772 is that it supports 277V input, which is one phase of a 480V three-phase commercial power supply. This implies cheaper/simpler charging set up for buildings that work off 480V provide. (Our Rizon rep hadn’t heard of this potential profit once we requested them about whether or not the corporate would possibly swap to NACS.)

It’s not that huge a deal up to now, and J1772 and NACS are interoperable through adapters anyway, however we’re questioning if future Rizon vans would possibly make the shift to NACS.

It’s usually laborious to get particular costs within the medium- and heavy-duty world, however Rizon says that the vans will “often spec out within the $150k vary.” That is dearer than the diesel vans they exchange, however authorities incentives can be found to get that value down by fairly a bit – with as much as $40,000 in incentives from the Inflation Discount Act and extra incentives accessible in some states like California. And naturally, you get monetary savings on gas and upkeep over the obligation interval.

Total, the Rizon truck represents a pleasant step ahead for medium-duty business automobiles, with clean and quiet operation and vital give attention to driver consolation which ought to make this a straightforward promote for drivers and fleet operators.