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Electric trailer startup Range Energy wants to slash diesel use from the trailer freight market.

Why it matters: The young company's trailers, which automatically add torque when needed, can make Class 8 trucks more efficient, safer and easier to drive.

Zoom in: Range Energy has built four of its trailers at its facility in Mountain View, Calif., and plans to build another couple dozen there.

As it scales, the company is looking for a factory somewhere in the U.S. like Texas, Arkansas, Indiana or Nevada, near both the existing trailer supply chain and fleet customers, says Range CEO and founder Ali Javidan.

To fund the scale-up, "we're likely going out to raise our next round early next year," says Javidan.

Catch up quick: The company was founded in 2021 by Javidan, an early engineer at Tesla who led the prototyping for the Model S. He was also an early engineer at Zoox, the autonomous vehicle firm that Amazon acquired.

Follow the money: In February, the company announced $23.5 million in financing led by Trousdale Ventures and including participation from UP.Partners, R7, and Yamaha Motor Ventures.

Riding in a semi truck that's pulling one of Range Energy's electrified trailers in Mountain View, Calif.

Jeffrey Scorsur, vehicle operations lead for Range Energy, drives a diesel-powered Freightliner that's pulling one of Range Energy's electrified trailers in Mountain View, Calif. Photo: Katie Fehrenbacher/Axios 

How it works: Today, the trailers that Class 8 trucks pull don't have propulsion systems.

Javidan's idea, which he says he began thinking about while at Tesla, was to put an electric drive system and batteries on a trailer, connected by a smart kingpin, and manage it with software and sensors.

The electrified trailer can be pulled by either a diesel or battery-powered truck and makes driving more efficient and safer.

He says the tech is enabled by the maturing markets for batteries, electric drive systems and automotive software.

The vibe: Earlier this month, I went for a ride around the streets of Mountain View in a Freightliner Cascadia Sleeper that was pulling Range's RB-01, a 38-foot refrigerated electric trailer.

Range's vehicle operations lead, Jeff Scorsur, showed me how the propulsion system automatically kicks in when the driver accelerates or slows down and can act similar to an electric assist bike helping the driver with a boost when it's needed.

"If the trailer was turned off, the accelerator would be floored right now," said Scorsur as we sped up into traffic. That dynamic software-controlled system can reduce diesel use by between 30 to 60% off the baseline.

Javidan and Scorsur say the truck drivers who have tested out the tech love the battery assist. "The biggest complaint is they had to give them back."

What's next: Range Energy is scaling up its manufacturing to meet its first wave of customer demand, starting with the refrigeration industry. The company has a partnership with cold chain giant Thermo King.

Javidan says he has "deep scars" from the Tesla days as the company struggled to grow manufacturing and famously hit "production hell." But he says he's learned a lot from those scars that can be used for Range.

The company didn't disclose the price of its electric trailers, but Javidan said "it's more reasonable than the sticker shock you get between a diesel truck and an electric truck."

Electric trailer startup Range Energy to scale up with planned factory

The young company's trailers, which automatically add torque when needed, can make Class 8 trucks more efficient, safer and easier to drive.

Range Energy's electrified trailer the RB1 outside of its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

Range Energy's electrified trailer outside of the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Photo: Katie Fehrenbacher/Axios

Semi-trailer trucks

Electric trailer startup Range Energy wants to slash diesel use from the trailer freight market.Why it matters: The young company&#x27;s trailers, which automatically add torque when needed, can make Class 8 trucks more efficient, safer and easier to drive.

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Electric trailer startup Range Energy to scale up with planned factory

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