Fuso eCanter: Review

Electric trucks have been talked about for some time and many companies are trialling in different guises but the leader in the electric truck world seems to be the Daimler Group which is pooling the resources of Mercedes-Benz, Fuso and Freightliner for the common good.

The combined electric vehicle expertise at Daimler Trucks was consolidated into the Electro Mobility Group (EMG) in the middle of this year. Apart from the eCanter, the group is also working on the Mercedes-Benz eActros, the Freightliner eCascadia and eM2 both of which are being developed as pre-production vehicles and testing with customers in the US has begun.

But the eCanter is now in production in factories in Kawasaki, Japan and Tramagal in Portugal. It is in fleets in Europe, Japan and the US, and will soon be available here in Australia. A spokesman for Fuso Australia said that the company may wait until the next incarnation of the eCanter before offering them for sale here but some of this version may become available for lease.

We first saw the eCanter back in 2017 when we got a drive at Fuso’s Kitsuregawa Proving Ground north of Tokyo. While that was an interesting and exciting introduction to the eCanter, it was nothing compared with the opportunity to drive the electric truck in real-world conditions in Australia.

The eCanter that has been brought into this country and which has been doing some testing with Australia Post in Sydney is based on the Canter 815.

It has a GCM of 7500kg and a payload of around 3000kg. The batteries are six liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery packs that give a total of 360 volts and 82.8kWh. This gives the truck a range of just over 100km and it can be recharged with a level 3 DC charger in less than two hours, or with a level 2 AC charger in around four hours.

The electric motor supplies 135kW of power and 390Nm of torque which is fed through a conventional drive shaft to the rear wheels.

Braking is through an electro-hydraulic braking system with dual calliper discs and there is an electric two-stage regenerative braking system that feeds power back into the batteries as it slows the truck.

Externally, the eCanter looks like any other canter with the exception of the underslung battery packs on the sides.

Inside, it’s the typical wide cab with seating for three or a work station in the middle. There’s plenty of storage for all your paperwork, drink holders and overhead storage as well.

The dash layout is different with the usual speedo and the info screen that gives you messages about the range left, distance travelled, average speed and other useful information. Then there’s the big dial that lets you know if you’re driving economically or not and if the regeneration is pushing charge back to the batteries under deceleration.

Other than that, it looks like a pretty standard Japanese truck.

The start the eCanter, you simply insert the fob into its holder on the right of the steering column and push the start button. Nothing really seems to happen other than the dash lights up and the green ‘Ready’ light flashes. Once that light stops flashing, you’re good to go.

Easing out of the Fuso HQ in the Melbourne suburb of Mulgrave, I have to say it felt a bit weird being in a truck with no noise – and I mean NO noise. The only thing I could hear was the hum of the air-conditioning and a slight whir of the braking system.

But step on the go pedal, the eCanter jumps. Maximum torque is from zero meaning that you don’t have to wait for the turbo to spool up as you do in a diesel truck to make maximum torque – you have it all the time.

In the eCanter it’s possible to beat most vehicles in the traffic-light drags up to about 50 or 60km/h.

Was I being silly? Maybe a bit, but it was fun! This thing is seriously quick…

According to our Fuso representative, we were at about 4.5 tonnes with the batteries and the pantech body but we didn’t have anything in the back so I don’t how well it’d go with a full load on board.

Top speed was about 90km/h which is probably all you need for a last-mile delivery vehicle.

The regenerative braking system is operated by the left-hand stalk. Pull back for normal stage one, and push it forward for the full regen-braking event. It really does pull the truck up too. Driving conservatively, you hardly need to touch the service brakes as you pull up to the lights. Just a tap right at the end and you’re stopped.

Driving around the streets of Melbourne, doing the kind of driving that one of these eCanters would likely do, the little truck acquitted itself well. I could easily keep up with the traffic, it was comfortable and very manoeuvrable and I didn’t have to deal with a rattly diesel engine. Quite relaxing really.

I found myself driving to conserve my power, even though I didn’t need to, and our Fuso engineer pointed this out to me saying that this kind of truck could change people’s driving habits as they kept an eye on the little graph showing us the discharge rate and the screen showing our estimated distance left in the battery packs.

So this is the future of trucking in Australia – well, at least part of it. A fully electric 7.5 tonne GCM truck with a 3-3.5 tonne payload.

It’s built entirely by Fuso and has the backing of a global truck and bus manufacturer and will carry full warranty with company backing.

If our test vehicle was anything to go by, it is a very well put together truck that has no squeaks or rattles – and believe me, if it did have, we would have heard them.

It’s remarkably quiet, easy to drive and comfortable. In fact I came away from the drive feeling quite refreshed.

At the end of our drive, we’d spent quite a bit of time with the eCanter but had covered relatively few kilometres. With stops for photography, coffee and lunch, we’d only covered 80 kilometres, however we still had 37 kilometres showing on the gauge until we were supposed to run out of juice so it gave us a theoretical total of 117km.

We’d have to assume that in the next incarnation of the eCanter, the range on offer will be a bit more and the price (even though we weren’t able get one from Fuso) will come down to make them more affordable for the average operator.

I can’t see electric trucks completely taking over from diesel any time soon, but in certain applications, I am sure that they will have their place and make inroads into the sales of conventional trucks.

Specifications:
Power source: AC synchronous electric motor couple to a single-speed reduction drive
Power: 135kW
Torque: 390Nm
Batteries: Six Daimler liquid cooled lithium-ion battery packs (total 360V, 82.8kWh)
Range: 100km-plus (depending on conditions and application)
Brakes: Electric two-stage regenerative braking system and electro-hydraulic brakes with two-calliper discs
Suspension: Front leaf springs with hydraulic dampers and stabiliser bar rear leaf springs with hydraulic dampers
Steering: Ball and nut electro-hydraulic power steering
GCM: 7500kg
Payload: 3000kg