It seemed like SEA Electric was everywhere at the Work Truck Show. The electric powertrain provider was named as a Tier 1 supplier to Mack Trucks for its battery-electric Mack MD Class 6 and 7 medium-duty trucks, which will offer the SEA-Drive 120 and 180 power systems. At the same show, Hino Trucks announced that it was integrating the SEA-Drive system into its Me and Le electric medium-duty battery-electric trucks. See what I mean?
Bad puns aside, the electrification of the medium-duty segment is moving quickly, with even more announcements rolling out at the recent ACT Expo. I connected with Tony Fairweather, founder and chief executive officer, SEA Electric to better understand the company’s market strategy and take the pulse of battery spec’ing options that medium-duty truck manufacturers must make.
“It’s really important that fleet managers take into consideration—from the beginning of the development of a power system—what the right size is of that power system for the duty cycle,” Fairweather said. “It’s also important to consider what’s needed from a charging perspective, the weight that’s associated with the battery solution, the cost on a kilowatt hour, and importantly—the number of packs that can fit [on the truck] and how that might impact the cost.”
Watch the video above for a deeper conversation on what those variables mean to medium-duty electric truck development.
No script? No plan? No problem. Welcome to Fleet Equipment Unscripted—the video interview series that connects you with the greatest minds in the heavy-duty trucking world. Fleet Equipment Unscripted is sponsored by Hendrickson.
