Truck Update Q3 2026

The trucking world seems to be going through a similar evolution as their car brethren, with the majority of players predicting electric drive trains to become the norm in the future. There is one major difference though. Where cars have a clear intermediary technology in plug-in hybrid or extended range electric vehicles, that step is largely being skipped for the heavier transportation solutions. Multiple actors clearly see a hole that can be filled in. Last quarterly update I already mentioned the German firm Trailer Dynamics and now there are two more putting their nose in the window.

In the US the startup Revoy has found financing to bring their vision further along. Their idea is simple enough. To make sure all those existing and future diesel rigs can make a partial jump to electric, they are proposing an extra tractor/trailer unit, apparently called a dolly, to be inserted between the traditional tractor and trailer. The unit contains both the battery and electric drive train to support the diesel rig in its operations. With a full charge the unit should be able to pull an 80.000 pound combination for 200 miles, well over 300 km. The company predicts the business case to be achievable with diesel prices from before the current price pressures on the fuel. At todays prices the calculation should be even easier to make then. From a purely practical perspective I do question how easy parking operations with the extra anchor/turning point will be.

Over in Europe, where adding 4 meters of length to a tractor-trailer combination might be a non-starter anyway, Mahle is proposing a different approach coming from the other direction. Instead of turning the good old diesel truck into a hybrid by electrifying it, they propose to add a range extender to electric trucks. The tier one automotive supplier will replace one of the battery units of an electric truck with a fully integrated engine/generator system that recharges the batteries when needed. The advantages are clear. When the batteries of a truck are running towards empty, the Mahle range extender would kick in to recharge them with 110 kw of continuous power to cross a difficult section on the route or help reach the destination without a recharging stop. The downside is also pretty clear, the system would replace about one third of the batteries, around 2-300 kwh worth in a modern electric truck. Having options is never a bad thing though. This solution would give transportation companies the possibility to preserve flexibility when going electric, a kind of half jump, which is always better than not jumping at all.

I have written before how mining companies are racing to electrify their fleet of monstrous rigs, especially in China. Well, with the breakthrough of Sodium-ion batteries the business case might have gotten more interesting. Tonly Heavy Industries has just presented its TLE120, a truck sporting a 676 kwh battery. Charging from 0 to 100% should only take 20-25 minutes which is stupendously fast given the massive energy content. With a 8.000 cycle fast charging battery life, they should also last long enough to give the truck hardware a run for its money. So no weaknesses? Not exactly, with an energy density of only 165 wh/kg this version can't compete with the already existing LFP unit that tops out at 801 kwh in the same platform. Operators will have to weigh the options carefully. The proven resistance to cold weather might just swing them in the direction of the new technology as Sodium-Ion traditionally operates much better across the temperature range than LFP. These last ones can lose up to 50% of their capacity below -20°C, while their salty competitor keeps trucking along until -40°C is reached. Given the northern location of quite a large number of open pit mines in the world, it's a serious USP to take into account.