Mack Adds to MD Electric Sales Push With Off-Grid Charging Unit
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NEW ORLEANS — Mack Trucks will introduce an off-grid charging unit that is attached to an MD Electric, the OEM said March 5, as it attempts to drum up interest in the recently introduced Class 6 or 7 vehicle.
The unit can charge two MD Electrics at once and will be integrated into the body of a truck. It comprises a renewable propane tank, a generator and a 120 kilowatt-charger integrated into the chassis. The Level 3 charger is an ABB unit.
Mack is offering the trucks to customers testing the MD Electric as well as dealers facilitating electric vehicle demos.
The company builds a chassis and then sends that to a body builder to add the charging unit, Ryan Saba, Mack Trucks energy solutions manager, told Transport Topics. “It is a solution designed to allow customers to test out the equipment,” Saba said.
From cutting-edge innovations to industry-leading solutions, we are ready to showcase it all this week at @TMC4Trucks #TMCAnnual24 show! Find us at booth 2213.
Learn more about the #trucks and #technology we'll be featuring: https://t.co/tRRjLAFLd1 pic.twitter.com/Le2Hq5mWRy — Mack Trucks (@MackTrucks) March 3, 2024
“Nothing turns a customer off more than not being able to charge their vehicles,” Saba said during an interview at the 2024 Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition, adding that the charging unit will be available to customers later in the spring.
“We’re going to primarily use it for long-term customer demonstrations. It will allow them to utilize the vehicles more in the short term,” he said.
George Fotopolous, Mack Trucks e-mobility business unit leader. (LinkedIn)
“It is another tool in the toolbox,” added George Fotopoulos, Mack Trucks e-mobility business unit leader.
Mack does not currently plan to make the truck-charger configuration commercially available to customers but is offering to support buyers interested in obtaining a truck charger combo through their dealer.
MD Electric production has started, and it is undergoing upfitting, Saba said. The truck will be available to customers by the end of the first half of the year.
Saba
Mack is running four MD Electric customer pilots, three in California and one in Michigan, Fotopoulos said.
The charging unit is part of a suite of programs Mack is introducing to specifically entice customers to try out and then perhaps buy an MD Electric.
In October, the Volvo Group unit launched ElectriFi Subscription, a usage-based leasing option just for the MD Electric, its second electric model, noting the service would allow customers to adopt battery-electric vehicle technology more easily.
The subscription allows customers to “pay as they go” based on miles driven on a monthly basis. Chassis and body, charging, applicable incentives, physical damage — but not liability — insurance and maintenance costs are bundled into a monthly payment.
Subscriptions start at three years, with an option to extend up to six years. At the end of the term, customers can renew their subscription, purchase the truck or end their contract.
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