This Hybrid Semi Truck Named After Edison's Snuff Film Elephant Might Change The Trucking Industry

“‘As a truck driver, this is how I would build an electric truck.’ and we just kept saying that for so long, we finally just said heck with it, we’ll just go build our own electric truck.” After reserving a Tesla semi truck and waiting five years, Edison Motors co-founder Chace Barber determined that the Tesla wasn’t really what he wanted in an electrified logging truck. It might work for his needs, but it wasn’t laid out in a way that truckers would appreciate. The Edison Motors Topsy is his answer to the Telsa, a hybrid truck built for truckers.

Edison Motors has been documenting the whole process on TikTok, and has even involved followers with design competitions, behind the scenes access, and more. For right now, the Edison is little more than a proof of concept, but the truck is in the Canadian capitol to get the truck, and the company, approved for production. Topsy looks a bit like a regular tractor trailer, but it’s actually a futuristic electric propelled machine, just like the Tesla. There’s one big difference, though, the Edison doesn’t necessarily need to stop to charge along the route, as it has a diesel generator under the front shell.

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Edison is still a tiny company with a tiny mission to bring a few hybrid electric trucks to market. “We don’t have any CNC machines or press brakes. Everything is just made out of plate steel, angle grinders, and stick welders,” says Barber.

So how does this thing work? Trucks have a lot of peak power demand, meaning they need a ton of excess power for acceleration or pulling up a hill, but after that they’re just wasting diesel most of the time pulling down the interstate. By using the electric motor for those big bursts of energy demand, and running a CAT diesel generator at constant rpm to keep the batteries topped up, the truck has enough power, but is also much more efficient to operate.