The trucking manufacturer, Peterbilt, shows off some of their latest projects, their attempt at making electric vehicles. In their latest demonstrations, they showed off the years of hard work they have been doing to get their vehicles to meet the different incoming regulations from both state and federal agencies. The largest regulation plans that they are gearing up for are the California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Fleet, Advanced Clean Truck, and low Nitrogen Oxide demands. The company put their work on display last week at the 2024 Commitment to Class event. They specifically showed some models from the new electric vehicles, as well as some of their diesel trucks. Additionally, they spoke about some initiatives that they are instilling in their business practices.

Jim Wallace, the director of medium-duty vehicles for Peterbilt, spoke at the event.

At the event, Wallace expressed that the work in which they are displaying in this year’s event showcases the “individualized solutions for your applications in every industry for every job.” Based on the sales of the year, he qualified the year as a little bumpy, but called it a healthy year still, nonetheless. Based on recently released numbers, for the industry overall, there are an estimated 240,000 to 280,000 retail sales of Class 8 vehicles that have occurred this year alone. There have been about 100,000 medium-duty vehicle retail sales. These are certainly not bad numbers to see, especially when comparing them to recent years, but they are still not great to see either. They are hopeful that this display will entice more people to purchase their vehicles and eventually spread their range to more geographically diverse areas.

Currently, there are some issues when the vehicles reside in different climates.

Due to the nature of the vehicles, they are best and the longest lasting when they are in regulated temperatures. When in cold environments, drivers benefit the most from having their vehicle kept indoors as much as possible. When the truck is in a hot environment, it is best to keep it in the shade. Vehicles in extreme weather on either end of the spectrum often see issues as they use a lot of energy cooling and heating. That is why a lot of the work with Peterbilt is ongoing, so they can find ways to strengthen their work and fully ensure their models, both electric and not, are up to high quality standards.