Penske Truck Leasing and Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) celebrated the delivery of two battery electric production model Freightliner eCascadia semi-trucks. The delivery of these heavy-duty electric vehicles marks the culmination of a period of co-creation, refinement and field-testing that kicked off almost five years ago.

“Interest in electric vehicles continues to grow as our customers seek to further reduce emissions,” Paul Rosa, senior vice president of procurement and fleet planning at Penske, said. “We’re committed to providing our customers with the latest vehicle technologies to help them achieve their sustainability goals. We anticipate adding more electric vehicles across our fleet for full-service leasing, rental, and for use within our logistics business. We commend DTNA for their collaborative approach in bringing these innovative vehicles to market.”

Penske has invested in testing, maintaining and building out charging infrastructure to support these vehicles.

“Penske is a true pioneer in bringing advanced technologies to the road,” David Carson, senior vice president sales and marketing at DTNA, said. “As a long-term, trusted partner in our electrification journey, Penske played an integral role in shaping the eCascadia to what is now available to all customers and making our highways a safer and cleaner place for us and generations to come.”

Penske Truck Leasing and DTNA have collaborated on testing and introducing electric vehicles to customers including the Freightliner eM2 and eCascadia models since 2018. The companies have also marked many notable milestones including two recent efforts to be the first companies ever to use the electric trucks to haul high-performance race cars in both the NASCAR and IndyCar racing series.