ITT Hub Show report

Temperaturecontrolled

body-builder Solomon Commercials was more than happy for its stand to be used as a launch pad for the UK’s first fridgebodied Mercedes-Benz eActros electric truck.

Equipped with a Solomon body with a Carrier TRS Syberia over-cab chiller unit, the 19-tonner is based on a 4x2 eActros 300. Its three battery packs have a total installed capacity of 336kWh and can deliver a range between recharges of up to 205 miles, says Mercedes.

The batteries can be recharged from 20 to 80 per cent of their capacity in 75 minutes using a 400A 160kW charger, the manufacturer adds. Solomon has kitted the body out with an aerodynamic Solomon Slipstream system with a tapered bulkhead and a 3D roof deflector.

Still cautious about adopting zeroemission trucks, and worried about how well they will fit into their operation, some hauliers may prefer to submit them to an extended trial before they commit themselves. Present at ITT Hub for the first time, Vertellus may be able to help.

Set up last year as a joint venture between Renault Trucks and several of its dealers, the electric truck contract-hire specialist was celebrating supplying an 18-tonne Renault E-Tech to operator Europa Road under a three-month trybefore-you-buy agreement.

The Renault is the first electric model Europa has deployed. Based at its groupage hub at Dartford in Kent, the newcomer shuttles between the firm’s depots.

ThermoKing was showing the first temperature-controlled trailer to appear in the UK fitted with its Advancer AxlePower energy recovery package developed in partnership with BPW.

The energy recovered by the trailer’s BPW ePower axle when the vehicle is going down a hill or braking is used to charge a battery which powers the fridge unit. The system switches itself off when the truck is going uphill to minimise drag.

Built by Gray & Adams, the trailer is equipped with a ThermoKing Advancer fridge unit.

Industry newcomer Sunswap was displaying a temperature-controlled trailer equipped with a package it has developed called Endurance. It uses roof-mounted solar panels to power the refrigeration system via a battery.

The trailer itself was constructed by Gray & Adams. The energy the panels capture can provide a trailer on chilled work with sufficient energy to run its refrigeration unit for up to two months before the battery needs to be recharged from an external source, Sunswap contends.

“We build the fridges ourselves and offer customers different sizes of battery pack,” explains Sunswap head of business development, Alastair Gough. “You can go from three modules and a total of 36kWh up to six modules and a total of 72kWh.”

How effective the package is depends on the sort of traffic the trailer is on.

Fully-frozen loads and multidrop work with frequent door openings will drain the battery more quickly than hauling a trailer loaded with chilled sandwiches and pork pies from a distribution centre to a major out-of-town supermarket. If you are transporting frozen food then Endurance’s battery is likely to be drained of its charge in as little as two days, and will need replenishing from the power supply at the operator’s depot.

At the lighter end of the scale, Petit Forestier, which specialises in providing refrigerated vehicles for rent or on contract hire agreements, was exhibiting a refrigerated electric Renault Master E-Tech 3.5-tonner. Bodied by Lecapitaine, it boasts a claimed 120-mile range.

In dual-temperature format, with separate chilled and frozen compartments and twin evaporators, it offers a payload capacity of up to 900kg.

Equipped with a fridge unit drawing power from an independent 10kW battery, it was on show next to a roomy refrigerated container and a self-propelled 0.9cu m electric fridge trailer called the K-ryole. It can be coupled to a pedal cycle for additional power, and directional guidance.

The idea is that Master E-Tech will deliver goods to the container which will be placed in a convenient location in a city centre where it will act as a refrigerated micro distribution hub. K-ryole will pick up the items ordered by customers and take them on the final mile to their destination.

Grossing at 425kg, and with a payload capacity of 130kg, K-ryole can transport goods at temperatures of from 0 to plus 12 degrees C says Petit Forestier. It can operate for from six to eight hours before it needs recharging, the firm adds.

Top speed is 15.6 mph with pedal assistance, falling to just shy of 4 mph if it is pulled along manually. Over 1,000 K-ryoles are already in operation on the other side of the Channel, including versions that can be used to shift ambient freight.

Electricians and other trades people who attend jobs in city centres will increasingly need to do so in zero-emission vans. They may be looking for something that is ultra-compact and can get them as close as possible to the task in hand.

One choice they may not have considered is a battery-powered Goupil G2. An example with a load area racked out by Bott was present on the Bradshaw EV stand.

Goupils are built in France, and Bradshaw EV is their UK distributor.

G2 offers a range between recharges of from 27 to 62 miles depending on the batteries specified.

The choice includes traditional lead acid – familiar from the milk float era – as well as lithium-ion. The former is offered at 5.8kWh, the latter at either 5.2kWh or 8.6kWh.

“Sales are split equally between the two, with lithium-ion having the advantage of being lighter,” comments Ramsy Labassi, Bradshaw EV’s marketing manager. G2 can be ordered as a van, a pick-up, or as a pick-up topped off with a mesh cage, and can carry payloads of up to almost 600kg depending on the model chosen.

On the same stand was the G4, with a lithium-ion battery pack offering a range of nearly 70 miles according to the importer.

It can be ordered with a variety of different bodies, including as a pick-up with a 500-litre pressure washer; ideal if you have a contract to clean city centre bus shelters.