German company Mahle has unveiled an all-in-one solution that can be easily integrated into existing electric trucks.
The unit includes a compact diesel engine, a generator, a fuel tank, an AdBlue tank, and all of the thermal and fluid management systems.
Mahle says its solution can replace about a third of the battery capacity of an existing electric truck.
Electric trucking is slowly becoming more mainstream, but battery-powered big rigs are probably not for everybody, at least not yet. Tesla and Mercedes-Benz have proved that you can squeeze over 400 miles of range out of an electric truck, but some companies and drivers might still see that figure as an inconvenience.
That’s why Germany’s Mahle has come up with a solution to make electric trucking a little more palatable to more people: add a diesel engine. The company’s new range extender system packs everything into a single enclosure that can be easily fitted into the same space that’s being used by a couple of battery modules on an electric truck tractor.
