The first battery electric, mass-produced eActros built at the plant in Woerth am Rhein has been delivered to logistics specialist DB Schenker which is using the new truck to transport palletised shipments in the Leipzig area of eastern Germany.
Mercedes-Benz Truck brand chief Karin Radstrom said: “We worked closely with DB Schenker during the development of the eActros. The feedback from the practical trials were used to develop the series vehicle as well as related services.”
Wolfgang Janda, head of network & line haul management at DB Schenker said: “We have set ourselves the goal of becoming the world’s leading provider of green logistics. The light Fuso eCanter has already proven its suitability for everyday use in various cities. Now we are excited to see how the eActros will fare.”
DB Schenker already has 40 eCanters in operation in 11 European countries, including Germany, France, Finland, Italy and Spain.
Range of up to 400km
The eActros’ batteries can consist of either three (300 version) or four battery packs (400), each of which has an installed capacity of 112 kWh and a usable capacity of around 97 kWh.
The 400 has a range of up to 400km (250 miles). The drive unit consists of a rigid electric axle with two integrated electric motors and a two-speed transmission.
The two liquid cooled motors deliver a continuous output of 330kW and a peak output of 400kW. Energy recovered from braking is fed back into the batteries. The truck can be charged with up to 160 kW. At a conventional DC fast charging station with a charging current of 400A, the three battery packs take just over an hour to charge from 20% to 80%.
Spier supplied the body for the DB Schenker truck. The Athlete dry freight box body is an aeroform design, with continuous edging profiles and profile caps with sophisticated aerodynamics, combined with a built-in roof spoiler to reduce the drag coefficient and increase the range of the EV.
The vehicles are provided by the Mercedes-Benz Bank through its ServiceLeasing product and are subsidised by the ‘climate-friendly commercial vehicles’ funding guideline of the German federal ministry for digital and transport (BMDV).
The series-produced eActros is funded by the BMDV with EUR10.77m as part of the directive on the promotion of light and heavy commercial vehicles with alternative, climate-friendly drives and the associated refuelling and charging infrastructure (KsNI).