Why This New Electric Truck Is Beating Tesla To The Sleeper Cab — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03[music]
2. 0:09[music]
3. 0:11>> We've come to Antwerp to see this, the
4. 0:13Global E700 from [music] Windrose. And I
5. 0:16know what you're thinking, hmm, looks
6. 0:18very similar to a Tesla Semi. [music]
7. 0:20Well, that is what happens when you're
8. 0:22trying to optimize a very big shape for
9. 0:24aerodynamics. And unlike Tesla, this one
10. 0:27comes [music] with a bed, so sorry,
11. 0:29Elon.
12. 0:29But looks aside, this is genuinely
13. 0:32extraordinary [music] and we're here to
14. 0:33find out why.
15. 0:35Our three free YouTube channels on EVs
16. 0:37and clean energy tech are funded by our
17. 0:39fun-packed test drive-tastic events in
18. 0:42the north, west, [music] and greater
19. 0:43London, and our events down under. Next
20. 0:46up, Everything Electric North 2026.
21. 0:49Plus, check out everythingelectric.store
22. 0:52for merch and much more. Back to the
23. 0:54episode.
24. 0:56>> [music]
25. 0:57>> This HGV is designed from the ground up
26. 0:59for proper long-haul work, not just
27. 1:01small regional routes. So, we're talking
28. 1:03big distances, big loads, and the
29. 1:05real-world duty cycles that freight and
30. 1:07logistics [music]
31. 1:08need. This is a no-compromise truck, or
32. 1:10at least that's what Windrose claim,
33. 1:12meaning that it could replace diesel in
34. 1:14a really meaningful way. Big trucks,
35. 1:17obviously, mean big numbers. So, in
36. 1:19terms of range, we're talking 670 km or
37. 1:21around 460 mi of range when fully
38. 1:24loaded, so cargo capacity of about 25
39. 1:27[music] tons. Remembering that with an
40. 1:28electric truck, yes, it weighs a little
41. 1:30bit more, but that means that you can go
42. 1:31slightly over that 40-ton [music] limit.
43. 1:34Now, of course, the idea isn't to drive
44. 1:36all day. HGV drivers do legally have to
45. 1:39have a 45-minute break every [music] 4.5
46. 1:42hours, which provides some really
47. 1:44helpful design limitations around how
48. 1:46you design that range as well.
49. 1:48So, the whole idea of this is not to
50. 1:50completely redesign how a logistics or
51. 1:53freight operator [music] runs their
52. 1:54operations, but to seamlessly slot this
53. 1:57into their existing operations. It will
54. 1:59come as no shock that a machine such as
55. 2:01this needs a very very big battery, and
56. 2:04this is huge. It's over 700 kWh. But, it
57. 2:07might surprise you to know that it isn't
58. 2:09NMC. It is, in fact, LFP. And that's
59. 2:11surprising because NMC tends to have a
60. 2:14higher energy density.
61. 2:16But, LFP has a better cycle life, and
62. 2:18that's important because the total cost
63. 2:20of ownership economics really start to
64. 2:22stack up for electric trucks the more
65. 2:24you use them. So, these batteries are
66. 2:27warranted for a million kilometers, and
67. 2:29Windrose think they'll be good for up to
68. 2:312.5 million kilometers. That is pretty
69. 2:34staggering. There is an electric motor
70. 2:35at each of the four wheels, meaning it
71. 2:37can generate a peak power of 1,000 kW or
72. 2:401,400 horsepower, or 680 kW continuous
73. 2:43[music] power, meaning that this is more
74. 2:45powerful than most diesel equivalent. It
75. 2:48also has a dual e-axle configuration,
76. 2:506x4, which is great for those really icy
77. 2:53wintry conditions because of a ton of
78. 2:55traction control here. Windrose claim a
79. 2:58startability of 25% meaning that it
80. 3:01could pull away fully loaded from a
81. 3:03standing start on a hill of a gradient
82. 3:05of 25%. So, this is really prepared for
83. 3:08even the worst-case scenarios. When it
84. 3:11comes to electric propulsion, efficiency
85. 3:13is our best friend, and especially so
86. 3:15for HGVs which are so huge and really
87. 3:19need to prioritize that efficiency. So,
88. 3:21the front of [music] this, which is
89. 3:22extremely striking, and there's kind of
90. 3:24a resemblance to the Tesla Semi, has
91. 3:26been optimized all in the name of
92. 3:28aerodynamics. Now,
93. 3:30to give you an idea, a typical HGV has a
94. 3:33drag coefficient of about 0.6, but this
95. 3:36has a drag coefficient of 0.2755.
96. 3:39To put that into perspective, the Ioniq
97. 3:419 has a drag coefficient of 0.26.
98. 3:43[music]
99. 3:44And yes, for anyone who's about to tell
100. 3:46me that the real indicator of efficiency
101. 3:48is drag [music] coefficient times
102. 3:49frontal area, we get that. But, the
103. 3:51point is it has been optimized to be
104. 3:53>> [music]
105. 3:53>> as efficient as it possibly can be.
106. 3:58The EU mandates that heavy-duty vehicles
107. 4:00need to cut CO2 emissions by 45% by
108. 4:032030.
109. 4:04By 2040, that target jumps to 90% as
110. 4:08good as ditching diesel officially.
111. 4:11In the UK, it's even more urgent. By
112. 4:132035, no new non-zero emission trucks
113. 4:16over 26 [music] tons can be sold.
114. 4:19But, the world faces a global shortage
115. 4:21of HGV drivers. [music]
116. 4:23In the UK, for example, the average
117. 4:25driver is now 48 years old, and
118. 4:27retirements [music]
119. 4:28are outpacing new recruits.
120. 4:30So, let's hope that this swanky interior
121. 4:33could be enough to attract [music] some
122. 4:34new drivers.
123. 4:36So, how does this compare to rivals?
124. 4:38Well, certainly compared to Volvo and
125. 4:40Mercedes, it has more range, but also I
126. 4:43just think it has a much more elegant
127. 4:45execution of the interior cabin, much
128. 4:47more tech-focused. That, of course, is
129. 4:49the advantage if you're designing from
130. 4:51scratch. But, we have some fantastic
131. 4:53screens here. Here, I've got all of my
132. 4:55climate control. I can see various
133. 4:57cameras. I've got cameras to see almost
134. 5:00all the way around the truck. Then, here
135. 5:02I have maps. Um I can adjust my, you
136. 5:04know, phone, radio, whatever. It's very,
137. 5:07very neat. It's very elegant, and there
138. 5:09is a good combination of physical
139. 5:11buttons as well. They all have a lovely
140. 5:12sort of wooden trim around them.
141. 5:15Now, the most obvious thing to point out
142. 5:17though, of course, is that there is a
143. 5:18central driving position. That is
144. 5:20interesting for two reasons. One,
145. 5:22because we have this aerodynamic shape,
146. 5:25everything feels quite small here. So,
147. 5:27this doesn't feel like a totally
148. 5:29overwhelming vehicle to drive. It feels
149. 5:32very normal, very much like a standard
150. 5:34electric vehicle.
151. 5:36But, secondly, it also means that this
152. 5:38truck is the same regardless of where in
153. 5:41the world that you buy it. And already,
154. 5:42they have proven that this operates in
155. 5:44many, many different countries. I think
156. 5:46they're already in 22 different
157. 5:48countries. So, that introduces a lot of
158. 5:51efficiency when it comes to just even
159. 5:52designing and manufacturing this as
160. 5:54well. Now, the key differentiator
161. 5:56between this and say a Tesla Semi is
162. 5:59that this has a sleeper cab and does so
163. 6:02without actually compromising the
164. 6:04aerodynamic design. There is a huge
165. 6:07amount of headroom in here. I would say
166. 6:08that there is more headroom here than
167. 6:10there is in fact in my Victorian
168. 6:12terraced home. And that's so important
169. 6:14given that for a lot of drivers, they're
170. 6:15spending nights on the road, perhaps
171. 6:18over a week, maybe even a couple of
172. 6:20weeks, rather than doing hub-to-hub as
173. 6:22is assumed with the Tesla Semi. So,
174. 6:24really creating a space that feels
175. 6:26pleasant to be in is a very important
176. 6:28design factor.
177. 6:30For us driving though, it's also super
178. 6:32comfortable. As soon as I turned the
179. 6:33vehicle on, the massage seats came on,
180. 6:35the heated [music] seat came on, and
181. 6:37there is also the option to be cooled as
182. 6:39well.
183. 6:44One of the advantages [music] of
184. 6:46building a vehicle from the ground up,
185. 6:48and also actually waiting for the supply
186. 6:50chain to mature, is that you can make a
187. 6:52vehicle that's fully future-proofed. And
188. 6:54by that I mean that it is totally
189. 6:56software-defined. This has over-the-air
190. 6:58updates, meaning it can continuously
191. 6:59update, it can get more efficient, and
192. 7:02critically, it also has open data
193. 7:04integration, meaning that it is working
194. 7:06with companies like Geotab and Samsara.
195. 7:08So, that fleet managers, instead of
196. 7:09being locked into some sort of
197. 7:10proprietary software that Windrose
198. 7:12develop, can plug and play their own
199. 7:14systems, minimizing faff. And that is a
200. 7:16very important metric because any faff
201. 7:18or friction is sure to kill adoption.
202. 7:21Now, the other thing is that this is
203. 7:23completely drive-by-wire. So, the
204. 7:25steering, the braking, the throttle,
205. 7:27there's no mechanical connection between
206. 7:28the controls for them and the actual say
207. 7:30brake or throttle. And it is instead it
208. 7:33is done it's entirely electronically.
209. 7:35And that means that this is really well
210. 7:37set up to future-proof itself for things
211. 7:39like autonomy.
212. 7:41And in fact, Windrose describe itself as
213. 7:43the perfect physical AI platform such
214. 7:45that they could provide the platform for
215. 7:47companies like Aurora and Waymo to come
216. 7:49along and integrate their autonomous
217. 7:50technology on the top of it.
218. 7:53So, I think very safe to say watch this
219. 7:56space with regards to how this vehicle
220. 7:58is used in the future.
221. 8:05Of course, none of this means anything
222. 8:06if you can't actually charge it. And
223. 8:08what I'm about to show you is
224. 8:09underwhelming.
225. 8:11Because that in there is just a standard
226. 8:13CCS port. But, there is typically
227. 8:15another CCS charger on the other side,
228. 8:18which means that you could plug in from
229. 8:19both sides. And thanks to the 800-V
230. 8:22architecture, you get up to 750 kW of
231. 8:24charging using today's infrastructure.
232. 8:27That means charging from 10% to 80% in
233. 8:2935 minutes. And no coincidence, because
234. 8:32that roughly tracks with the mandatory
235. 8:34breaks that drivers need in Europe and
236. 8:36the US. So, no need to worry about
237. 8:38additional downtime that having an
238. 8:40electric truck may cost you in terms of
239. 8:42integrating it into your fleet. However,
240. 8:44this particular one doesn't have a
241. 8:45second CCS because it does in fact
242. 8:49support MCS, the next generation of
243. 8:51charging standard for HGVs. MCS,
244. 8:55Megawatt Charging Standard. Meaning this
245. 8:57will be able to charge at a few
246. 8:58megawatts. Absolutely staggering. Now,
247. 9:01Windrose have some pretty big ambitions
248. 9:03when it comes to charging, and they're
249. 9:04currently working with Greenlane to fill
250. 9:06some of those infrastructure gaps. And
251. 9:08in a very Tesla-like move, they're
252. 9:10actually offering early customers 3
253. 9:12months of free charging around the LA
254. 9:14area.
255. 9:21How [music] big is the charging and
256. 9:23charging infrastructure challenge in
257. 9:24your view? It is becoming smaller. And
258. 9:28it's almost starting to go away on the
259. 9:30key routes we focus on, which is
260. 9:33major corridors connecting main cities,
261. 9:36Stockholm, Gothenburg, Antwerp, Paris,
262. 9:38in the UK, in the London area, and then
263. 9:40going up
264. 9:41in the United States, California,
265. 9:43Arizona, New Mexico, Texas. In China,
266. 9:45Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong. So,
267. 9:47it's already being built and it's only
268. 9:49going to get better. What about when it
269. 9:51comes to depots? Is that a slightly
270. 9:53different challenge? Yes, that's a much
271. 9:56bigger opportunity. We believe in the
272. 9:57future all major parking spots and and
273. 10:01the depots and warehouses would have
274. 10:03their own charging. Because the
275. 10:05electricity can be be generated on
276. 10:08unlimitedly with many
277. 10:10different means and
278. 10:12most larger depots are able to have
279. 10:14their own electricity source from wind
280. 10:17or solar or
281. 10:18or something else and then we can help
282. 10:20provide the battery storage and the
283. 10:22underlying system for that as many other
284. 10:24folks can.
285. 10:25What do you see as a way to help
286. 10:27accelerate that and make it a little bit
287. 10:28easier for for depots? Is permitting,
288. 10:30for example, a bit of a problem? I
289. 10:32actually don't blame it on permitting
290. 10:34this time.
291. 10:35I think we need to and folks in our
292. 10:37business in the electrification business
293. 10:39need to understand and educate our
294. 10:41customers on how to easily set up
295. 10:44an understandable and risk controllable
296. 10:46depot charging setup. It's it's
297. 10:49conceptually simple. You need something
298. 10:51to generate the electrons like windmill
299. 10:53or solar panels, both of which are super
300. 10:55mature technology.
301. 10:57You need a battery huge battery tank to
302. 10:59sort of help buffer that which is now
303. 11:01becoming super mature. We're selling our
304. 11:03batteries for that too and then you need
305. 11:05to find a way to charge
306. 11:07the trucks with good charger, right
307. 11:08voltage and then you need the right
308. 11:10trucks. So, we're doing that all of that
309. 11:13sort of free consulting for all of the
310. 11:15customers who want.
311. 11:16And we hope more people can just do that
312. 11:19and understand it's it's not super hard
313. 11:21once the math and physics is done. But
314. 11:23it wasn't the case until recently that
315. 11:25the answer is so clear and the supply
316. 11:27chain so ready.
317. 11:30This is a truly international truck.
318. 11:33It's reached five continents, 22
319. 11:34countries, and 16 of the world's top 40
320. 11:37highway corridors.
321. 11:38>> [music]
322. 11:39>> They're working with major logistics
323. 11:40operators like Navoya, Joyride,
324. 11:42Decathlon, Ceva Logistics, Toll Group,
325. 11:44Broken, and Kerry in the [music] US,
326. 11:46Europe, Australia, and China. And
327. 11:48interestingly, it describes itself as
328. 11:50Chinese origin with core components
329. 11:52being built in China and final assembly
330. 11:55happening locally in the US and Europe
331. 11:57using knockdown kits.
332. 11:58>> [music]
333. 11:59>> In theory, that helps Windrose avoid
334. 12:01tariffs and keep prices around the
335. 12:03$250,000 mark, far lower than most
336. 12:06European rivals.
337. 12:08>> [music]
338. 12:08>> So, it's a delicate balancing act
339. 12:10between economics and politics and a
340. 12:12really interesting experiment in global
341. 12:14EV manufacturing in this [music] current
342. 12:16climate.
343. 12:18Are you concerned at all about US
344. 12:20tariffs [music] and how that impacts
345. 12:21your planned manufacturing operations
346. 12:23there? And does it have a meaningful
347. 12:26difference on the total cost of
348. 12:27ownership calculations? Yeah, so US
349. 12:30tariffs are
350. 12:31our trucks at nearly 70% today. So, not
351. 12:34quite the the the 100, it's a little bit
352. 12:36less bad for trucks. And of course, it's
353. 12:38a huge impact. US is also giving
354. 12:41significant amounts of subsidies per
355. 12:43truck
356. 12:44in California, in New York, and many
357. 12:46other states.
358. 12:47So, that actually comes out to a wash.
359. 12:50So, there's conflicting things that are
360. 12:52happening, but if you're making a good
361. 12:55product that's structurally so much
362. 12:57better and cheaper, there's always ways
363. 12:59to make money. So, we are concerned, but
364. 13:02it doesn't change what we do. And US is
365. 13:04really
366. 13:05huge market, but only one of our 24
367. 13:07countries today. So,
368. 13:10we can always find ways to help
369. 13:11ourselves grow while we
370. 13:14understand how to better handle the US
371. 13:16business. But for the time being, we're
372. 13:18going all in United States. There's no
373. 13:20no stopping us and
374. 13:23it's only going to get better, I think,
375. 13:24from this point on. view. What's the
376. 13:26next step? What's your next priority for
377. 13:282026?
378. 13:30Uh there's only one priority, which is
379. 13:31diddly-diddly-diddly.
380. 13:33Uh we want to get to 2,000 trucks this
381. 13:35year.
382. 13:36Uh it's aggressive as all goals should
383. 13:38be. Um
384. 13:39there's a fair chance we can hit that or
385. 13:41that order of
386. 13:42uh magnitude.
387. 13:44Um
388. 13:45we want to do that out of our China
389. 13:47supply chain
390. 13:48with uh European and possibly also US
391. 13:51assembly.
392. 13:52And we'll do that across our five key
393. 13:54markets. Uh North America, which is
394. 13:56Canada, US, Mexico. Uh South America,
395. 13:58which is Chile uh focus where we have
396. 14:00trucks now today uh running uh testing
397. 14:03for Walmart and and Heineken.
398. 14:05Um and then we have Australia, New
399. 14:07Zealand, uh China of course, and then
400. 14:10here in Europe. Not in that order
401. 14:12necessarily, but uh these five regions.
402. 14:20So, what have we seen here today? Well,
403. 14:22I think we've seen a pretty fantastic
404. 14:24electric HGV. And one that comes armed
405. 14:27with a very savvy strategy as to how
406. 14:29this company is going to scale. Really
407. 14:31fantastic tech, efficient design, clever
408. 14:34manufacturing, and seamless integration
409. 14:36into existing operations, making it very
410. 14:38easy for fleet and logistic operators to
411. 14:40make the switch to electric.
412. 14:43But that is all that we have time for
413. 14:44today. Please do let us know what you
414. 14:46think in the comments. Please do like
415. 14:47and subscribe. And if you have been,
416. 14:49thank you for watching.