Electric trucks are older than petrol ones, and are now making a comeback
Battery-powered goods vehicles have been on sale continuously since the mid-19th century, before Karl Benz built the first combustion-engined truck in 1895. Liquid fuels, packing far more energy into a tank, pushed them to the margins until new battery chemistries in the 2000s brought electric trucks back into many roles.
A truck, or lorry in British English, is a motor vehicle built to haul freight, carry special equipment or do other practical work. Most have a separate chassis frame with the cab independent of the load area, and big ones may carry refuse compactors, fire equipment or concrete mixers. Diesel dominates, though North America keeps some petrol models and electric trucks are more common in China and Europe. The European Union counts anything up to 3.5 tonnes as a light commercial vehicle.
Truck first appeared in 1611 for the small sturdy wheels on ships' cannon carriages, from Greek trokhos, a wheel, and came to mean a heavy cart by 1771; motor truck dates from 1901. Lorry probably comes from railways, where by 1838 it meant a large flat wagon, possibly linked to an old verb lurry, to drag along. Usage differs: Australians call a pickup a ute and South Africans a bakkie, while in Britain, India and Hong Kong lorry means the big vehicles and truck mostly means a pickup.
Steam wagons became common in the mid-19th century but were limited by roads built for horses, typically running short hops from factory to station. The first semi-trailer, pulled by a De Dion-Bouton steam tractor, appeared in 1881. Steam lorries sold in Britain until 1935, when a road tax change made them uneconomic next to diesels. Gottlieb Daimler built his own truck in 1896, Autocar made America's first in 1899 with 5 or 8 horsepower, and early trucks usually carried 1.5 to 2 tonnes. Although invented in 1897, the diesel engine reached production trucks only in 1923, with Benz, and some American heavy trucks still ran on petrol in the 1970s.
At the small end, Japanese kei mini-trucks, limited to 660 cc engines for tax breaks, include the Suzuki Carry and Honda Acty. Imported into the United States, they must be governed to 25 miles an hour.
Source: Truck
