FEATURE
Bidfood has put its FUSO eCanter to work on city frozen and chilled food deliveries around central Auckland.
Frozen...without By Dave McLeod
OPERATING A FLEET OF ABOUT 500 TRUCKS TO SERVICE NEW Zealand’s food, hospitality and leisure markets means wholesale food provider Bidfood is no stranger to keeping chilled and frozen produce on the move. And when the opportunity arose to trial “zero emissions” delivery in Auckland’s CBD with the full-electric FUSO eCanter, the sustainability-focussed business jumped at the chance. Bidfood is one of the participants in the Auckland Inner City Zero Emissions Area (ZEA) trial, a year-long project that aims to reduce air pollution in the CBD by moving towards emission-free freight services. The project is an early part of an Auckland Council long-term objective of creating a zero-emissions area by 2030 and is also supported by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). Tony Hutcheson, Bidfood Limited’s national fleet manager says signing up for the trial was an easy decision. “Our executive team is very focused on sustainability,” says Hutcheson. “Two of the top things I have to report on are safety and sustainability. I am regularly being asked about our kilos of CO2 and driver fatigue.” Hutcheson continues: “This ZEA project is partly funded by EECA and [for EECA] some of the payback is about gathering information. All sorts of data is being collected, charging times and rates and the amount of charge needed. Plus, how often the truck is used….” Regardless of how many interested parties there are, Hutcheson says from Bidfood’s perspective, this is a key pilot project in which any failings are just as important as the successes. Particularly as working with refrigeration brings its own set of
challenges for the operation of an electric vehicle. “For certain delivery services [couriers for example], when electrification finally becomes a big thing, they can just jump into vans and go,” Hutcheson says. “But for us the complications of adding refrigeration and the weight that entails are a lot to think about. It’s not something that we want to do at the last minute. “We don’t want to be caught off guard, so this is the beginning of our look at what is achievable and what we will have to change to be able to utilise this technology moving forward. We really want to stay ahead of the curve.” The truck Bidfood is using for this project is the all-electric, zeroemission FUSO eCanter. Its powertrain is a permanent synchronous electric motor with 135kW/390Nm output and an 81kWh lithium-ion battery pack which, on paper is good for between 100-150km range. The eCanter can be charged via a DC fast charger which will give it an 80% capacity charge in 45 minutes (80 mins to 100% charge) and can also use an AC overnight charger utilising off peak power. It also boasts two-stage regenerative braking and sits on low rolling resistance tyres to maximise range. “The body we’ve added is eutectic, something that we’ve been doing for a wee while on a good many of our Streets ice-cream trucks,” Hutcheson explains. “It’s very efficient and the clever bit is that all the compressor and refrigeration gear sit on an external trolley; it’s not actually on the truck at all.” The truck body has been put together by Automated Truck and Body Solutions in Tauranga using an eutectic body frame system from Mondial Framec in Italy. Hutcheson explains the system: “If you can imagine the freezer Truck & Driver | 63
