PACCAR companies Kenworth and Peterbilt are collaborating on electric powertrain development for trucks. At CES 2020, Kenworth displayed a Kenworth K270E battery-electric vehicle—the initial result of the collaboration. Kenworth K270E cabover is equipped with Dana-designed e-Powertrain system that is fully integrated and upfitted to the Kenworth chassis.

Kenworth K270E

Configured as a direct drive system, the vehicle utilizes a Spicer Electrified e-propulsion system, and a standard Dana drive axle and driveshaft. Dana also supplies an e-power system, which generates, stores, and manages the energy for the vehicle and consists of electrified auxiliary systems, an on-board charger, and two battery packs.

Dana-developed software and controls enable the diagnostics and telemetry of the complete system.

The electric powertrain will be available with range options between 100 and 200 miles. The high-energy density battery packs can be recharged in about an hour using the vehicle’s DC fast-charging system, making both the Class 6 Kenworth K270E and Class 7 K370E cabovers suited for local pickup and delivery, as well as short regional haul operations.

Kenworth also exhibited a Level 4 Autonomous Kenworth T680 in the PACCAR booth at CES. The proof-of-concept truck was conceived and constructed at the PACCAR Innovation Center. PACCAR has worked with leading experts in the field of high-definition mapping, localization, perception and path planning to deliver an integrated autonomous solution. The special Kenworth T680 is equipped with cameras, lidar, and radars to sense the surrounding road environment and to feed fusion algorithms in the perception stack for object identification and tracking.

A Global Navigation Satellite System with an Inertial Measurement Unit combined with LiDAR Point Cloud on a high-definition map provides centimeter accuracy localization. The autonomous vehicle software and feedback control logic for actuation are hosted on five computers that record up to 1TB of data per hour of driving.

Mechanical modifications to the Kenworth T680 include redundant steering torque overlay system, upgraded high capacity alternator, a high-fidelity electronically controlled air braking system, and the addition of rear seats in the sleeper structure for the autonomous engineering team.

Peterbilt will also integrate a Dana Spicer Electrified e-propulsion system into its 220EV chassis. The truck will also be equipped with two battery packs and an on-board charger.

Like the Kenworth, the Peterbilt 220EV features a range between 100 and 200 miles.

At CES, Peterbilt also displayed a Model 520EV battery-electric truck; these are currently being field tested by customers.