The confluence of a new, bigger engine, net-zero carbon emissions from renewable natural gas (RNG) and pressure from shippers for their carriers to operate sustainably add up to a bright picture for natural gas adoption.
But a new study from the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) points to a couple of cautions. First is methane leakage from the source of the RNG. Methane escaping into the atmosphere is a huge contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gas.
Second, and most important to fleet managers, is whether adopting natural gas and installing behind-the-fence fueling infrastructure will pay for itself before the tipping point to zero-emission electric vehicles arrives.
Timing and incentive availability raise caution flags
“When electric trucks become more viable … you may not have enough time to really execute and implement a decision to go to natural gas and then have enough years to really get that payback,” Mike Roeth, NACFE executive director, said in a virtual news conference on Monday.
And in lining up for incentives, will natural gas get its share of financial help to offset its higher-than-diesel costs?
“Incentives are available, but with all of the public and private needs for all of these solutions — support for battery-electric trucks, support for biodiesel and other things — we wonder what the lifeline of incentives will be for these various different solutions,” Roeth said.
Still, even with the challenges proponents don’t mention, NACFE is confident in a greater take rate for natural gas as an alternative to diesel.
Cummins X15N a key development
A new, more powerful Cummins X15N engine now in production addresses driver complaints of insufficient power and torque from its industry-standard X12N engine. The X12N is soon to be retired.
Cummins already has sold 40,000 of the X15N engines in China where they debuted in 2020. It expects to sell 3,000 stateside this year, and its top on-highway executive predicts penetration could eventually reach 10% of the approximately 300,000 engines sold annually. Whether that fivefold increase materializes is unknown.
But Roeth and his fellow researchers are sure natural gas-powered engines are destined to claim more than their 1%-2% historic market share. RNG is a big component of that projection. RNG accounts for about 69% of all natural gas nationwide and 97% in California.
“All those things pile up for us to see that natural gas and particularly the RNG portion being a bigger part of the solution than we thought just a few years ago,” Roeth said.
SEC fines Lordstown Motors’ founder
Steve Burns’ name was conspicuously absent when the Securities and Exchange Commission fined Lordstown Motors $25.5 million for faking pre-orders for its Eudurance electric pickup truck.
Now the agency has called out Burns in a separate $175,000 penalty for his role in artificially pumping up expectations for the now-bankrupt startup.
On March 22, the SEC said it had settled fraud charges against Burns, Lordstown’s former chairman and CEO, for misleading investors about pre-orders for the Endurance. Short seller Hindenburg Research blew the whistle on Burns and Lordstown in a March 2021 report titled “The Lordstown Motors Mirage: Fake Orders, Undisclosed Production Hurdles and a Prototype Inferno.”
Burns at one time held more than 25% of the startup’s stock. Lordstown went public in October 2020 in a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company DiamondPeak Holdings Corp. Burns sold massive amounts of his shares up until the week of Lordstown’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization filing in August, collecting more than $60 million.
In October, he purchased the Endurance assets in bankruptcy for $10 million, and he has started a company called LandX, of which he is the principal owner.
Burns neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s allegations, He consented to a permanent injunction, the civil penalty and a prohibition from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company for two years. Burns could not be reached for additional comment on the SEC settlement.
REE Automotive gets greenlight on incentives, grows order book
Ree Automotive is reporting strong progress toward production of the first fully by-wire — no mechanical connections — commercial truck, although its cash is pretty short.
The company is pausing production tooling purchases until it can raise more money, probably in the second half of the year.
Ree is burning 25% less cash than a year ago. Its cash and short-term investments stood at $86 million at the end of 2023. It raised about $15 million in a straight sale of shares at $6.50 each.
The Israel-based startup this week gained California Air Resources Board approval for incentives of more than $100,000 per truck. Meanwhile, the order book now stands at $50 million, up 900% year over year as Ree is running field tests with customers.
Ree now has 66 dealer and service locations in the U.S. and Canada. Founder and CEO Daniel Barel talked with me about the Class 4 P7-C chassis during the recent Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.
Briefly noted …
Kodiak Robotics tapped Werner Enterprises, Walmart and Loadsmith as part of an industry advisory council to help shape the company’s product development, deployment, and public engagement ahead of commercial launch targeted for late this year.
The first batch of Daimler Truck’s all-electric medium-duty trucks from Rizon have been delivered to customers in California.
Autonomous trucking software developer Plus has appointed Jon Morrison, formerly the president of Wabco and more recently the president of the Americas for ZF/Wabco, as its first chief revenue officer.
TruckWings, now part of ConMet, racked up significant fuel efficiency numbers in compressed natural gas- and diesel-powered Class 8 day cab trucks.
Fuel cell technology developer Hyzon launched the first of its 200-kilowatt single stack fuel cell systems in Melbourne, Australia.
Volvo Group and Renault Group have completed the creation of a joint venture for a new generation of electric vans called Flexis SAS.
Electric truck manufacturer and services provider Xos closed its acquisition of ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp., adding $48 million to its balance sheet.
Electric truck deliveries in ones and twos are pretty common, but when Peterbilt Model 520EVs go to Anchorage, Alaska — with its less-than-EV-friendly temperatures — it’s worth noting.
Truck Tech episode No. 60: The Greenlane approach to electric truck charging
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading and watching. Click here to get Truck Tech via email on Fridays. And catch the latest in major events and hear from the top players on “Truck Tech” at 3 p.m. Wednesdays on the FreightWaves YouTube channel. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome. Write to aadler@freightwaves.com.