What happened to the Cummins Aeos electric truck?

December 6, 2021 6:07 PM

About four years ago, I remember a short time where there was a lot of hype around this beast that some considered a legitimate threat to Tesla's Semi aspirations. It was supposed to go into production in 2019, according to press releases. Yet searching for it reveals no articles newer than 2017. What happened?
posted by Seeking Direction to Technology (5 answers total)

Well, these two articles are from late-2019. Seems to me Cummins is an engine builder rather than a vehicle manufacturer, so the Aeos concept was only to demonstrate that the idea of an electric truck is valid. That said, the "New Power" area of their website (the only one I looked at) does seem to suggest they actually make vehicles, and the Aeos is shown in the lineup. But it seems like they are all about hydrogen power these days (and "improving" diesel engines).

Edit: As for actually answering the "what happened?" question, I guess the Aeos as a proof-of-concept was enough and was never intended for actual sale.
posted by turbid dahlia at 6:47 PM on December 6, 2021

Response by poster: Hmm. Yes, Cummins is mostly an engine builder, but from the CNET article: “Cummins says a production AEOS is coming for 2019, and it's also working on a model with a diesel range extender good for 200-300 miles of range.” Was this just clever weasel-wording in their press release?
posted by Seeking Direction at 7:09 PM on December 6, 2021

Well, they are now manufacturing powertrains for BEV buses, which I'd assume is much the same technology.
posted by kickingtheground at 7:20 PM on December 6, 2021

Cummins never really wanted to get into the truck-making business. They would be competing with their own customers. The "Coming 2019" basically promises that other OEMs would use their AEOS technology to make trucks and they basically all backed out, or Cummins was overly optimistic.

Freightliner eventually went ahead with eCascadia, all electric version of their own Cascadia line. Other truck makers simply found no need to make an all electric truck. Nikola was eventually found to be fraudulent (the demo tape of the thing in motion was with an empty shell coasting downhill).

Also, efficiency can be squeezed from existing infrastructure in various ways, from better planning and routing, easier bidding on jobs by independent drivers, improved fuel efficiency, to modified trailers with hybrid technology, APUs to minimize / eliminate idling, better telematics to optimize operation cycles (like know how much wear and schedule the vehicle to be back at depot) and so on and so forth. Even little things like equipping each trailer with a solar-powered GPS can enable efficient use of existing inventory
posted by kschang at 8:12 PM on December 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

FWIW, Freightliner's eCascadia is based on a Detroit Diesel's electric drivetrain.

As @kickingtheground mentioned, Cummins supposed electric drivetrain for the Gillig electric buses, and also Bluebird school buses.

Cummins also supplied some custom electric trucks to Frito-Lay back in 2020 and is in constant use. No mention on whose chassis that was.
posted by kschang at 3:02 AM on December 7, 2021 [2 favorites]