Mercedes Benz has beaten Tesla this time! It was definitely an unexpected blow the electric car maker would have never expected to happen.

Instead of going for the familiar sedans and SUVs, Mercedes decided to launch a new all-electric heavy truck. The model has been officially launched by the automobile manufacturer and they have also confirmed some technologies which should be ready by the end of this year. Once done, it will be added to truck when production begins in 2017.

Named as the Mercedes Benz Urban eTruck, the vehicle has an amazing hauling capacity up to 26 metric tons. It is yet to be revealed as to how the engineers managed to dump so much power into an electric motor. The model is specifically designed to bea heavy duty construction transfer equipment.

“This is the best time to launch an electric truck. We made the decision after going through a lot of options. The team realized that there is a huge gap in the industry where no one used electric motors for these trucks. We decided to make the best out of the situation and decided to use the technology available,” said Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the Daimler truck division.

Mercedes didn’t go for the long range haul trucks. They have opted for a more practical approach with a short range model which has a limited range of up to 124 miles. The truck is mounted with three different lithium ion batteries and the electric motors are conveniently placed adjacent to the wheel hubs. The batteries are concealed with crash proof materials to keep them safe in case of a collision.

Daimler has a huge share in the Mercedes brand and they have already launched trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cell. The trucks have successfully completed over 31,000 miles in a year and is being tested in various stages. However, they are limited in terms of distance as they can go only 62 miles on a single charge.

The new Mercedes Benz Urban eTruck has broken the barriers and can easily cover multiple trips within the same city. Tesla recently announced that they are moving into a new territory by launching commercial vehicles including buses and trucks. Mercedes has managed to surpass Tesla for the first time in many years. Most companies were still building cheap electric cars with long range but the brand has managed to launch an EV truck before Tesla could, setting a new benchmark.