DAF Trucks has raked in a significant order for 1 500 trucks, among which at least 75 fully electric LF and XD trucks, for the British truck rental and leasing company Asset Alliance Group (AAG). With the electric trucks besides the diesel versions, AAG wants to attract new customers in a fast-evolving market for e-trucks, Marc Mellon, Director of Asset Management, says.

The ‘New Generation’ DAF XF, XG en XG tucks for long distances and heavy transport got the  ‘International Truck of the Year 2022’ award last year, while the XD 2023 earned the title this year for distribution. The XD and XF Electric are derived from these trucks and will be produced in spring in Eindhoven (Netherlands).

Ranges from 210 to 500 km

Both electric trucks are powered by Paccar (DAF’s parent company) e-motors with 170 to 350 kW of power (230 to 480 hp). The battery packs are modular and have a capacity of 105 kWh each, with the option of speccing 2 to 5 ‘strings’ with a combined capacity of 210 to 525 kWh.

The largest battery pack reaches a range of over 500 km, according to DAF, while fast charging allows the packs to be recharged from 0 to 80% in 45 minutes. Slow overnight charging up to 22 kW AC is possible but only feasible for distribution trucks with the smallest capacity.

Finishing Eindhoven BET assembly lines

In January, DAF finished its Eindhoven compound’s new assembly line for electric trucks. The DAF XD and XF Electric presented at IAA 2022 will start rolling off the line this spring. Eventually, DAF hopes to produce several thousand electric trucks annually at the facility.

It started building the Electric Truck Assembly back in the summer of 2021. It doesn’t manufacture the new-gen electric trucks from scratch but instead assembles the electric drivetrain into so-called gliders, chassis-cab combinations without drivelines.

These gliders are moved from the main assembly lines of the Eindhoven factory onto the two assembly lines of the Electric Truck Assembly: one for the battery packs themselves and one for mounting the high-voltage components onto the chassis.

Daughter of American Paccar

DAF is a subsidiary of American Paccar, a specialist in light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF brands which also designs and manufactures advanced diesel engines.

DAF manufactures its trucks in factories in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), Westerlo (Belgium), Leyland (the United Kingdom), Ponta Grossa (Brazil), Bayswater (Australia), and Dadu (Taiwan).

The engine factory, component factory, pressing plant, and final assembly line for CF and XF models are in Eindhoven. Axles and cabins are produced in Westerlo, Belgium.