Mercedes-Benz eActros now in practical testing

Mercedes-Benz has put the last of its ten-strong fleet of fully-electric eActros trucks into service with food logistics specialist Nagel-Group in Hamburg.

The vehicle will round off the Mercedes-Benz Trucks eActros "Innovation Fleet" for testing the heavy-duty electric truck. The first eActros began customer testing in September 2018.

The latest 18-tonne truck has a range of up to 200 kilometres and supplies refrigerated foodstuffs to various customers such as supermarkets in central Hamburg.

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As a fully-electric and therefore emission-free truck, the eActros can also drive in zones subject to bans on diesel vehicles. After the daily round, the batteries are charged directly at the company's depot overnight.

"We are delighted that the Nagel-Group with their many years of experience in food logistics is one of our customers testing the eActros in daily operations. This vehicle for the Nagel-Group rounds off our Innovation Fleet for testing the all-electric truck,” said Oliver Kraft, Head of Key Account Management at Mercedes-Benz Trucks.

Tobias Jardon, Head of the Nagel-Group Hamburg branch added: "Hamburg provides the ideal urban surroundings for testing a fully electric truck. The Mercedes-Benz eActros will deliver refrigerated goods every day to different customers in the inner city of Hamburg. We are looking forward to seeing how the electric truck performs with the high demands of refrigerated logistics."

As part of practical testing of the eActros Innovation Fleet, the 18- or 25-tonne vehicles are put through their paces by 20 customers from various sectors as part of their regular daily operations. The tests of the Fleet are made up of two phases, each with ten customers. Feedback from these practical tests will flow directly into the development of the eActros right up until its readiness for series production.

The eActros is based on the same chassis as the Mercedes-Benz Actros. However, the vehicle has been redesigned around an electric drive system and thus features a high percentage of vehicle-specific components. Two electric motors near the wheel hubs of the rear axle provide the drive, each delivering an output of 126kW and 485Nm of torque.

Mercedes-Benz says that the drive is on par with a conventional truck. Power comes from lithium-ion batteries with 240kWh capacity. Depending on the available charging output, the batteries can be charged completely in as little as two hours (at 150kW).