SEA CHANGE

Zero Emission

ELECTRIC TRUCKS ARE THE TOPIC ON EVERYONE’S LIPS THESE DAYS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS, A GROWING FOCUS BY MAJOR COMPANIES FOR LOWER CARBON EMISSIONS AND THE COMING WAVE OF ZERO EMISSION VEHICLES PUTTING THE SUBJECT FRONT AND CENTRE. WHEN WE WERE OFFERED THE CHANCE TO DRIVE ONE OF SEA ELECTRIC’S BATTERY ELECTRIC POWERED LIGHT TRUCKS WE NATURALLY JUMPED AT THE OPPORTUNITY AND CAME AWAY IMPRESSED BY THE PERFORMANCE AND OVERALL PACKAGE.

Buried deep in the seemingly endless wave of industrial units and factories gathered around the industrial hub of Dandenong in Melbourne’s far eastern suburbs, is a non-descript low rise building that houses SEA Electric.

In a world that is rapidly trying to adjust to the reality of the need to de-carbonise, there is little hint from the outside that this is a building of increasing significance for Australia and its fledgling electric truck business.

SEA Electric’s Australian HQ is an unprepossessing operation, it could be a food warehouse or a printing plant from the outside and when you push open the door into the compact main office area, the herd of people feverishly working around the central communal work desk have an urgency and purpose that singles this out as an enterprise that is clearly in a hurry.

We had arrived at SEA Electric to have a chat with the Vice President of the company’s Asia Pacific operation, Glen Walker and to have a drive of one of its light duty electric trucks that it is assembling, just through the white door at the back of the office area.

It might look like a non-descript food warehouse from the outside but something big is cooking inside that factory floor out the back.

Around the same time as we had dropped into SEA, it was announced that it would be selling its electric trucks, based on Hino cabs and chassis, through 15 select Hino dealers in Australia, after a long and drawn-out negotiation process, that involved tying down the supply of semi knock down kits from Hino.

The SEA Electric trucks use key Hino components including the cab, chassis rails, wheels, axles and suspension, to which it then fits its own battery packs, electric motor, wiring and control units. The SKD kits come in from Hino’s factory in Japan with the various components for two trucks in a 40ft container, landing at the SEA factory ready to be bolted together and fitted with the electric drive train.

Although based on the current Hino 300 and 500 series models and sold through 15 Hino selected dealers around the country, the SEA Electric trucks don’t feature the same extensive safety suite that Hino’s diesel truck models now come equipped with.

SEA Electric was established in 2013 by its now executive chairman, Tony Fairweather. The company unveiled an AVIA based Smith Electric Truck at the Brisbane Truck Show that year and placed a Smith Electric Truck on trial with major transport company, Toll. Since then the company says it has engineered its own systems. Tony Fairweather was previously involved with local bus and coach importing business Patico Automotive, the one time Australian distributor of Optare buses.

In what turned out to be a tumultuous year in 2018, Isuzu Australia took the industry by surprise, announcing it had linked with SEA Electric to develop its own electric truck locally, in answer to what it said was ‘strong demand from Australian fleet customers’. That relationship seems to have gone quiet, with SEA Electric’s Asia Pacific vice president, Glen Walker, telling T&TA, that the company doesn’t want to ‘close a door’.

“Gone quiet is a the best way of describing it,” Walker told us.

We don’t want to close a door and we don’t want to say goodbye, but the market we operate in is dynamic and is fast changing and what seemed like a good idea by some people a couple of years ago, might not currently be seen as a good idea today,” he added.

“Our product is deliberately positioned and designed to be non-brand specific so its an installation that has a broad range of opportunities,” he added

Since then it has established operations in the USA where Hino America recently announced it had inked a deal with SEA Electric to develop and supply electric drivetrains for various trucks as part of Hino America’s Project Z zero emission program. In recent weeks SEA also announced it had raised around $AUD54 in a private equity placement in America.

A planned factory in Victoria’s Gippsland, has not happened yet, but we are told the project is still in train in some way.

Now headquartered in America and with strong equity funding, SEA Electric appears to be headed for operations on a bigger stage.

The company will initially offer two models in its SEA Electric-badged range, the SEA 300 and SEA 500, based on the Hino 300 Series and Hino 500 Series models respectively, both of which are now on sale, with 46 pre-orders on its books from some of Australia’s biggest companies and councils it says.

“We’re now a truck brand, we’ve got our own compliance plates, we’ve got our own certification, we’ve got our own ADR

approvals, we had a truck at a proving ground doing testing a few weeks ago and we have gone from being a re-powerer of diesels to effectively providing our own power,” said Glen Walker.

“SEA Electric is privileged to be able to bring this Australian first to the marketplace,” said Walker.

“These trucks truly meet a need in the marketplace, and prior to this launch, we have received pre-orders for 46 vehicles,” he said.

“It represents an exciting phase in global EV development, and this places SEA Electric at the forefront,” he added.

The trucks are propelled by what it calls its SEA-Drive Power-System, which is available in ‘various performance and range packages to suit applications from 4.5 tonne car licence vehicles through to 22.5 tonne 3 axle trucks’.

Prior to the deal with Hino, SEA Electric’s trucks were only available as retrofit powertrains for existing diesel vehicles, but now the new models are being assembled locally from the SKD kits, with its fully integrated SEA-Drive Power-System fitted from the start.

The company claims that its ‘real world testing of in-service vehicles that travel up to 1000 kilometres per week has revealed daily recharging costs of less than $14 per day using standard off-peak electricity prices of 15c per kWh’.

“Future proofed with an upgradable plug and play architecture, the SEA-Drive Power-System can be charged using the “world’s biggest” charging network, which the everyday is 415V 3-phase power available in most industrial factory units, plugged in via the truck’s standard on-board charging equipment, with optional DC fast charging also available,” the company claims.

It says the fast charging option enables a charging rate four times faster than standard, and offers range extending topups during lunch hour or vehicle loading.

SEA claims that from an operational perspective, lower maintenance and running costs are possible, with diesel consumption eliminated and fewer moving parts minimising service costs.

Electric drive trains features a host of key features, including smooth application of torque, whisper quiet operation, and importantly, a reduction in the truck’s carbon footprint, with zero emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane.

Other highlights of the trucks are improved workplace health and safety conditions for operators, with the powertrain producing no noise or fumes while reducing vibrations, combining to

“IT REPRESENTS AN EXCITING PHASE IN GLOBAL EV DEVELOPMENT, AND THIS PLACES SEA ELECTRIC AT THE FOREFRONT”

limit driver fatigue.

Electric drive technology performs exceptionally well in congested urban environments, where pollution reduction is needed most, and provides competitive whole of life operating costs when compared to traditional diesel vehicles”.

Electric trucks are extremely quiet, perform well, while also providing a powerful yet smooth ride.

They also have a flexible architecture which will future-proof their ownership.

There are a range of advantages provided by tour system, including reduced service costs, with a routine four-hour inspection required every six months, and minimal wear on service brakes due to the use of regenerative braking”.

In Australia, carbon dioxide emissions from transport are now the second highest behind electricity generation, and are forecast to continue rising.

Mass uptake of electric trucks in urban Australia has the potential to save millions of tonnes of CO2 each year, and provide up to 40,000 MWh of mobile battery storage, which is a potential future revenue stream.

The SEA Electric tie up with Hino dealers across the country, means they ‘can also provide service and parts support, including any work carried out under the standard three-year warranty.

Roadside Assistance will be available via industry insurance provider NTI’s Truck Assist operation for the life of the warranty period.

SEA Electric claims its trucks will cost ‘under $14 per day to charge from the grid’, and less it says if ‘depot solar’ is used.

So what is it like to drive?

Well the truck we were shown to was an SEA 300 -85, which was a customer’s truck that had been doing service with Whitehorse City Council in Melbourne’s East since July last year and had about 10000km on the clock.

The truck was fitted with an elevated work platform crane unit so the truck weighed around 5750kg gross with the 85 in the model number signifying an 8.5 tonne GVM . The test truck was the long wheel base model and was optioned with the 138kWh extended range battery and also had the 1500Nm motor which is also an extra, while the trip infotainment screen was the other significant option.

Climbing aboard there is no obvious difference between the electric truck and a traditional diesel powered version. The dash and controls look similar until you look a little closer and realise the instruments are a little different and

obviously there is no tachometer, instead there is a gauge that shows the amount of regenerative braking energy being supplied back into the battery.

Just like an internal combustion engine truck, you slip the key in and turn it but there is no clatter of starter motor or a diesel engine coughing into life, simply the soft whir of some fans and other components and lights appearing on the dash. Its then a matter of pushing the D button on the console to the left of the driver’s leg , disengaging the park brake and a squeeze on the accelerator pedal and the truck eases away with almost total quiet.

Turning out of SEA Electric’s front driveway into a quiet back street in Dandenong’s industrial area, the truck accelerated with surprising urge and with very little fuss. The really fascinating thing is that because there is no engine noise or transmission hum every other squeak, rattle and clunk is amplified. These are sounds you never hear when driving a traditional diesel because the sounds from the motor and driveline mask them.

It scoots down the road without fuss or bother and the quiet running is a real blessing that would equate to a whole lot less fatigue for operators after a day at the wheel.

More importantly the three-stage retardation that comes from the electric motor not only slows the truck very effectively, significantly reducing brake wear, but also delivers battery regeneration, putting power back into the power supply to extend the range. This is why a battery electric model is so good for round town and urban work, and not so good for jobs that require a lot of cruising on the highway.

There are lots of upsides with the SEA Electric truck, but from what we can gather price is not one of them. The SEA Electric 300 we drove as a bare chassis has a price tag of around $200,000 to $220,000 depending on the options, so at this point in time it is difficult to make a purely commercial decision to buy one. For government and semi-government entities, like Whitehorse Council or corporations that need to satisfy shareholder and institutional investors demands for more ‘green’ vehicle operation, then the price is just a cost of meeting those environmental citizenship requirements and it will be paid.

The SEA Electric people would counter that argument by putting forward the cost of operation as being lower and would offer a payback over a reasonable time. That is based on that 15 cent per kilowatt hour electricity price we mentioned earlier. That is a price that may not be available to every operator so the costs could vary quite a bit. Of course if an operator has an extensive solar array that will tilt the cost equation further in favour of the electric truck.

One downside is that the SEA Electric trucks do not feature the same safety tech that the Hino diesel trucks they are based on do, such as autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist and other features that are standard on the conventional Hinos, which may create some issues for companies pursuing higher OH&S standards while also chasing better environmental standards

Over time, the costs will come down, as the price of batteries reduce and potentially governments offer incentives or subsidies ( although we would not be holding our breath for the Australian government to offer these ). However, if you are keen to operate a cleaner, more environmentally friendly light or medium truck and you are prepared to pay the premium then the SEA Electric offerings could be just what you are looking for.

NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH SEA ELECTRIC’S DEALER NETWORK

Sci-Fleet SEA Electric – Coopers Plains, Qld 07 3722 2888 CM SEA Electric – Derrimut, VIC Sci-Fleet SEA Electric – Eagle Farm, Qld Sci-Fleet SEA Electric – Nerang, Qld SEA Electric Cairns – Cairns, Qld Adtrans SEA Electric – Mascot, NSW 07 3291 2222 Prestige SEA Electric – Doveton, VIC 07 5581 4222 Jacob SEA Electric – Wodonga, VIC 07 4052 4777 CM SEA Electric – Regency Park, SA 02 9160 0366 WA SEA Electric – Welshpool, WA Adtrans SEA Electric – Smeaton Grange, NSW 02 8559 0040 FRM SEA Electric – Hobart, TAS City SEA Electric – Arndell Park, NSW 02 8776 0343 FRM SEA Electric – Launceston, TAS Newcastle SEA Electric – Newcastle, NSW 02 4974 7800 FRM SEA Electric – Devonport, TAS Illawarra SEA Electric – Illawarra, NSW

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