Embark autonomous and BYD electric trucks demo the future

“We had been doing normal drayage for a while with HP,” said Nathan Hazard, Embark business development lead. “The goal was to see how it fit operationally to see if there was any impact to the Embark operations, any impact to HP operations or any impact to the carrier operations.”

Spoiler alert: There weren’t.

Watch Now: Embark autonomous and BYD electric trucks complete a drop and hook of the future

“It fits in seamlessly with the operational model we had,” Hazard told FreightWaves as he watched the Embark and BYD trucks position themselves for the handoff. “We had 100% on-time shipments when we were working with [BYD].”

That doesn’t mean nothing changed.

“For Embark, it required a little bit more coordination with the carrier because of the limitations of the battery technology.”

Most electric trucks operating in the ports can make a single round trip covering 125 miles from a distribution center and back. Embark didn’t try to go that far.

Embark sees customer demand for electric trucks

California is stepping up regulations on diesel trucks moving into and out of the ports. It recently began charging $10 for each entry and exit per 20-foot-equivalent container.

“Of course, you’re going to have regulators and state legislators who will push this. But I think more and more, we’re seeing the pull factor [from customers],” Hazard said. “This fits into Embark’s ESG [environmental, social and governance] goals and, as we work with our shippers, they all have sustainability goals that they’re reporting in their financial statements.”

NFI Industries Inc.,, for example, will field all of its 100 drayage trucks operating on electricity by mid-2023. It is relying on second-generation Volvo VNR Electrics because they can travel 275 miles between charging, enough for two round trips from NFI’s Chino operation in the Inland Empire to the ports. 

Generally, Class 8 electric trucks manage around 150 miles between chargings, meaning the single-charge range is insufficient for regular use.

But it is coming. Daimler Truck North America’s second-generation eCascadia can typically cover 230 miles before needing to be recharged. Nikola’s battery-electric Tre can go 300 to 350 miles on a single charge, but the tractor’s 29,000-pound weight requires caution to avoid overloading.

The BYD 8TT in the demo had 23,210 miles on the odometer. With a half-load, it gets 167 miles of range. A full load cuts that to 124 miles. BYD had electric trucks in service in the U.S. before anyone. It has delivered more than 100 of its 8TT model, including 21 to Anheuser-Busch for beer deliveries in Southern California.

Embark focuses on autonomy, not buying trucks

Embark isn’t buying many more trucks than the 20 in its test fleet. And it has no plans to go electric.

“Our model is to work with carriers. Carriers buy the trucks from the OEMs,” Hazard said. “We partner with carriers and we’ll provide the technology for them.”

After 15 minutes or so of transferring the HP load, the blue Embark tractor exited the gate, manually traversing a few surface streets to reach Interstate 215 for access to Interstate 10 and the seven-hour run to Phoenix covering about 300 miles in autonomous mode.

Safety driver Peter Miller, occupying the driver’s seat in case human intervention was needed, said he has seen dramatic improvements in the truck’s self-operating skills.

“Now, it’s so seamless in the things it does, it’s pretty cool,” he said. “I’m kind of jaded in a way because I’ve been here for four years so I’ve seen the truck in its early versions until now.”

The demo reinforced what Embark, HP and BYD learned in six months of trials.

“Embark proved that with today’s battery technology, we can use first-mile trucks in EV drayage and it fits into both our operating model as well as our partnership model,” Hazard said. “It’s using the sustainable benefits of autonomous and electric vehicles as we can with today’s technology.

“We think far in the future EV trucks with AV technology will be the gold standard.”

Related articles:

Embark knits BYD electric trucks with its autonomous tractors for cleaner air

Ports begin charging diesel-powered polluters to build Clean Truck Fund

Million mile-tested Freightliner eCascadia goes into production

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Alan Adler.