First series-produced eActros hits the road

Karin Radstrom, CEO Mercedes-Benz Trucks, has handed over an eActros 300 for heavy-duty distribution transport to logistics service provider DB Schenker.

The vehicle was received by Cyrille Bonjean, Executive Vice President, Head of Land Transport Europe at DB Schenker and Wolfgang Janda, Executive Vice President, Head of Network & Line Haul Management at DB Schenker.

DB Schenker will use the eActros to transport palletised shipments in the Leipzig area.

This first eActros electric truck is a 4x2 with a box body by Spier and a GVM of 19 tonnes, it rolled off the assembly line as planned last year and was officially handed over at a customer meeting in Wörth.

DB Schenker has already gained extensive experience in advance with a prototype of the eActros as part of the "eActros innovation fleet”.

At the handover, Karin Radstrom, Member of the Board of Management Daimler Truck Holding AG, responsible for the regions Europe and Latin America and the Mercedes-Benz Truck brand said: “We are very pleased that DB Schenker, as one of the leading companies in the logistics industry, has chosen the Mercedes-Benz eActros.

“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.”

This is not the first use of an electric truck for DB Schenker. The company also has more than 40 Fuso eCanters in operation in 11 European countries, including Germany, France, Finland, Italy and Spain.

The batteries in the eActros can consist of either three (eActros 300) or four battery packs (eActros 400), each of which has an installed capacity of 112 kWh and a usable capacity of around 97 kWh.

Fitted with four battery packs, the eActros 400 has a range of up to 400 kilometres. The technological heart of the electric truck is its drive unit, which 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 330 kW and a peak output of 400 kW. In addition, electrical energy can be recovered by regenerative braking.

The eActros 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 a little more than one hour to charge from 20 per cent of capacity to 80 per cent.

The two integrated electric motors have high efficiency and provide constant power delivery with immediate torque from take-off.

Mercedes-Benz says that the instant torque and the two-speed transmission, ensure powerful acceleration, impressive driving comfort and driving dynamics that enable more relaxed, lower-stress driving than a conventional diesel-powered truck.

In addition, the low centre of gravity improves cornering. The interior noise level has been reduced by 10 dB — roughly corresponding to a halving of the perceptible noise level — which also contributes to increased driver comfort in full-load operation.

Night deliveries are also possible thanks to the low noise level.