Sharjah: Bee’ah, the Sharjah-based environmental management company, has placed an order for 50 all-electric trucks of the Tesla Semi fleet, it said on Sunday.
According to Bee’ah, the trucks, which can run 805 kilometres on a single charge, will make up the first and largest fleet of Tesla Semi trucks in the region.
The announcement comes in-line with Bee’ah’s participation at the World Future Energy Summit taking place in Abu Dhabi from Monday to Thursday.
Bee’ah had placed the order immediately after the launch of Tesla Semi last November.
The incoming Tesla Semi trucks, which enter production in 2019, will primarily be used for waste collection and transportation, including transportation of materials for recovery. Running on battery power, Tesla Semi trucks are guaranteed for 1.6 million kilometres of usable life, while carrying 36,287kg of cargo.
Also, autonomous technology will enable multiple Tesla Semi trucks to travel in convoy unaided by human intervention, bringing safer transportation to the UAE’s roads, Bee’ah said. For example, on-board sensors will detect instability during travel, and automatically make adjustments to vehicle torque and braking to prevent dangerous ‘jackknifing’.
The trucks will also add to Bee’ah’s growing fleet of vehicles, which number more than 1,000 today.
The new Tesla Semi trucks will be used by Bee’ah alongside existing electric vehicles, as well as those that run on compressed natural gas and the ones that run on bio diesel, in addition to the boats that use solar energy while cleaning water bodies.
Bee’ah has also partnered with a number of US-based companies specialised in transforming diesel-powered vehicles into electric ones. Eventually, Bee’ah’s partnerships will allow Bee’ah to get rid of all vehicles that run on diesel, contributing to better air quality, it said.
Salim Al Owais, chairman of Bee’ah, said: “We are extremely pleased to turn towards Tesla for a solution that enhances our leadership of sustainable practices in the region. As a company that strives to be the best in our field, we only work with partners that we consider to be the best in theirs.”
Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Bee’ah, said: “As a torchbearer for environmental responsibility, Bee’ah’s move to bring the first and largest fleet of Tesla Semi trucks to the region is a significant milestone in our operational evolution.”
Al Huraimel added that the investment “occurs with a view towards a larger goal — achieving the objectives of the National Agenda for UAE Vision 2021.”
Bee’ah’s latest involvement with Tesla — an automaker, energy storage, and solar panel company — follows earlier ventures. Bee’ah has already made a major investment with Tesla to fit the company’s Powerpack battery technology at Bee’ah’s “net zero energy” headquarters, which is currently under construction.
The Tesla batteries will store solar energy to power the building, and any excess electricity generated will be fed directly into Sharjah’s main power supply grid, thereby ensuring maximum efficiency.
