DAF commences electric production

DAF is about to commence series production of the new XD and XF Electric trucks at its Eindhoven factory, with a new hall to handle driveline installation on the vehicles having been completed in just 18 months.

Electric trucks will be built as ‘glider’ units (sans engines) on the same line as the standard diesel trucks. The 4×2 and 6×2 tractors and rigids are then finished as electric trucks in an eight-step process in the electric truck assembly hall.

The electric truck assembly hall runs two lines: one where battery packs are assembled according to customers’ requirements, and another where all the high-voltage components, including the battery packs, are installed.

Operators can choose between two electric motors, with a range of outputs from 170 to 350 kW and a variety of battery configurations, with the largest having a 525 kW/h capacity and a claimed maximum range of over 500 km. Significantly, each truck is factory programmed to work with its installed battery size, and this cannot be changed afterwards to adjust the compromise between range and payload.

The batteries are Chinese-made lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) cells, which are free from toxic and hazardous cobalt and magnesium. They are said to offer the highest thermal safety of any electric vehicle battery, and DAF has crash-tested them at 100 per cent charge.