This is how commercial vehicles have been built in the U.S. for over 100 years to meet the various needs of fragmented markets, and is a critical way in which we differentiate ourselves in the market. By comparison, others are spending billions of dollars trying to build vehicles from scratch or take other approaches.
Our production portfolio includes XLhybrid and XLplug-in, both of which are available on a range of models today, and in time, will include XLelectric, which is currently under development for larger applications.
The hybrid platform was our initial product and represents our broadest offering today – from class 2 to class 6. This was the best way to enter the market for a number of reasons. First, it was where the economics made the most sense, as battery technology was still expensive. It also provided ease of adoption, as customers did not need to worry about factors such as driving range or charging infrastructure. They were able to very rapidly deploy hybrid systems across their fleet and immediately start reducing fuel consumption and reducing emissions.
As battery costs came down and the market evolved around the 2017/2018 timeframe, we launched our plug-in offering. We currently provide solutions to the class 2 market, and we are introducing our next gen plug-in solution for larger vehicles within the next 6 months.
As battery costs continue to fall, we are positioned to also be an early and leading supplier of all electric systems, which we plan to have available to the market in 2022.
As you’d imagine, as you go up in class size, the number of vehicles in the market goes down. In fact, class 8 accounts for less than 2 percent of all vehicles sold per year in the U.S., however, they account for more than 20 percent of all transportation fuel consumption and therefore provide the greatest opportunity for cost and emissions reductions. We expect to introduce a class 8 offering in 2022 to help customers reduce fuel usage and emissions across the commercial vehicle market.
With that, I’ll pass it back over to Dimitri to discuss the importance of reliability, expand more on our highly-scalable network, and highlight our world-class leadership team.
Dimitri Kazarinoff, Chief Executive Officer, XL Fleet
Thanks, Tod.
As noted earlier, one of the principal barriers to adoption across the commercial fleet industry is reliability. In addition to reliability, it’s critically important that solutions provide attractive financial return, while also delivering the sustainability benefits our customers really want. It’s this triple play value proposition that XL is focused on day in and day out.
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