At last year’s ACT Expo in Las Vegas, Truck & Bus Builder met for the first time with Range Energy to learn more about its “electric trailer platform”. This year’s show provided the opportunity for a business update after two major announcements: the appointment of a new chief executive officer, Jon Foster, and a supply agreement with ZF Group for its ‘AxTrax 2’ e-axles. I spoke with founder Ali Javidan – now chief technology officer – and Foster about what the company hopes to achieve in the next five years.

Ali Javidan, who has stepped down as CEO, will remain with the company as president and Chief Technology Officer.

ZF says it will integrate its ‘AxTrax 2’ e-axle – launched at ACT Expo 2023 – into Range’s electric trailer platform.

Manufacturers have always cared about what the customer thinks about their products. In the commercial vehicle industry, this is often expressed in terms of economics. Perhaps it needs an industry outsider to make the question of customer satisfaction about empathy instead of, or in addition to, materialism. Recently, I spoke with somebody who is prepared to bring feelings into a conversation that normally deals with facts only – Ali Javidan, the founder and CEO of Range Energy, a startup firm based in Mountain View in California’s Silicon Valley.

Through this partnership, Thermo King will offer refrigerated trailers to customers in the Americas which are powered – wholly or in part – by electric axles developed by Range.

The investment will fund the further development of Range Energy’s electric axle technology for semi-trailers, which can reduce fuel consumption in a diesel tractor-trailer combo or energy consumption in a fully-electric one.

CEO and founder, Ali Javidan, said that establishing the advisory council is “a major milestone for Range as we bring our electric trailers to the commercial trucking market”. 

The test was conducted by Mesilla Valley Transportation Solutions (MVTS) of Las Cruces, New Mexico on a 25.5-mile route, comprising urban and highway roads.

The ‘RA-01’, which was debuted at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo between 1-4 May 2023, is a 53-foot semi-trailer installed with an electric axle and energy storage system.