The world of truck transportation is pivoting around coming changes, ranging from self-driving rigs to alternative fuels, especially when it comes to local deliveries on fixed routes – think about the electrified fleets that Amazon and the U.S. Postal Service are bringing on line. There’s more, as the race goes on to develop viable EV power for heavy trucks in U.S. service. To that end, Nissan is now using battery-electric heavy tractors to pull haulaway trailers that deliver new Nissan vehicles from the Port of Los Angeles to Nissan dealerships in and around the city.
The Nissan strategy employs a series of battery-electric tractors: The one depicted above that’s a Nikola cabover model, which is being used along with a conventional tractor from Kenworth, both will full BEV drivelines. While Nissan hasn’t disclosed the range of the trucks, covering deliveries in the entire Los Angeles basin would require the trucks to likely run at least 100 miles from the port to reach distant dealerships. The BEV truck project is being undertaken in partnership with Avant-Garde Auto Logistics LLC, located in Smyrna, Tennessee, where Nissan operates a huge assembly plant, and is unusual among haulaway firms in being woman-owned. Nissan also teamed with logistics partner Wallenius Wilhelmsen to develop charging systems around the port, as Nissan plans to expand the use of BEV trucks, eventually on a national basis. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that one of the new vehicles on the trailers will be the new 2023 Nissan Ariya EV.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 