Daimler has taken a huge leap in the field of all electric transportation with the unveiling of its Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck.

The introduction of the eTruck is another illustration of how future vehicle technologies such as electric power and autonomous driving may actually be best suited to commercial transport for early practical development on the road.

The truck is designed for use in urban environments with a maximum range of around 200 kilometres (124 miles). Similar technology is also being put to use in LCV’s.  Mercedes see the truck as offering huge benefits in terms of emission and noise reduction in cities.

It appears that as far has the technology goes the truck itself is ready to roll, but official launch and production are still thought to be some way off at the start of the 2020’s. The reason for this is the cost-to-efficiency ratio. Currently the price of the batteries used would be too high to make production economical. However, the company anticipates significant cost reductions and performance improvements in the cells available over the next five years.