Thor Trucks Shocks Competition With Electric Semi

In an attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions, an upstart company called Thor Trucks has unveiled its prototype Electric Truck.

Currently, heavy freight transportation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas. Since 2015, transportation has been the biggest share of California’s climate emissions, with heavy-duty vehicles accounting for 7.4 percent of total emissions.

Giordano Sordoni, Thor’s chief operating officer reflected, “People look at these vehicles and the weight that they move and the jobs that they do and think, you know, electric vehicles might not be capable of that. And we’re proving that in fact, they are. They’re really powerful solutions that can provide the torque and performance, and even beat that of a traditional vehicle.”

Sordoni noted that the biggest engineering challenges were finding the right battery array and developing the software that runs it all. With a range of 100-to-300 miles, Thor’s vehicle will currently be aimed at local and regional duty.

Additionally, maintenance is reduced when you go from an internal combustion engine that has 2,000 moving parts to an electric vehicle, which has 20.

Sordoni and co-founder Dakota Semler are betting that fleet operators will quickly see the advantages of electrics over conventional diesel rigs, seeing savings in fuel, maintenance and compliance with California’s ever-tightening air quality regulations.

“I think now is a good time because battery costs have come down,” says Catherine Mukai, an environmental planner for the port, who attended the Thor demo for a test ride. “We’re seeing a lot more competition for Class-8 trucks in the market.”

Thor Trucks claim they’ll be ready to roll before Tesla’s much-anticipated Semi, which is expected sometime next year.

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