Mercedes-Benz electric heavy-duty trucks to go on fleet trials

Mercedes-Benz will be handing over ten electric eActros trucks over in the next few weeks to customers, who will be testing their everyday feasibility in real-life conditions.

The heavy-duty electric trucks have a gross vehicle weight of 18 or 25 tonnes, and can a range of up to 125 miles, with customary level of performance and payload. The batteries are accommodated in eleven packs: three of these are located in the frame area, the other eight are to be found underneath

The companies taking part in the trial include Dachser, Edeka, Hermes, Kraftverkehr Nagel, Ludwig Meyer, pfenning logistics, TBS Rhein-Neckar and Rigterink from Germany; and Camion Transport and Migros from Switzerland.

These customers all distribute goods via the road network – but in very different sectors and categories. The palette ranges from groceries to building supplies and raw materials. The vehicles are being used by customers for tasks that would otherwise be completed by vehicles with conventional diesel engines.

Discharged batteries can be fully recharged within three to eleven hours, assuming a realistic charging capacity of 20 to 80 kW from a mobile charging device at a fleet depot. The charging standard used is the Combined Charging System, CCS. The LV on-board network made up of two conventional 12-volt batteries is charged from the high-voltage batteries via a DC-DC converter. This ensures that all relevant vehicle functions such as lights, indicators, brakes, air suspension systems and cab systems remain operational in the event of the high-voltage network failing or being switched off. The high-voltage network can only be activated if both LV (low-voltage) batteries are charged.

The development and testing of the heavy-duty electric trucks in distribution transport forms part of the project "Concept ELV²", which is funded to varying extents by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUB) and Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) to the tune of around ten million euros altogether.