SEA Electric: Review

SEA started up in 2013, and since then it has developed a global reputation for its electric power system solutions for commercial vehicles.

This year, SEA Electric announced a tie-up with Hino where the company imports semi-knocked-down (SKD) trucks from the Hino factory in Japan and fits them with the company’s SEA-Drive Power-System.

We visited the company’s factory in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong and were hosted by Glen Walker, who is SEA Electric's Vice President - Asia Pacific.

SEA recently announced that two SEA Electric-badged vehicles, the SEA 300 and SEA 500, based on the Hino 500 Series medium-duty and 300 Series light-duty platforms, are now available for purchase.

The trucks come into the SEA factory in containers, each with three 300s and two 500s.

The cabs are fully trimmed and ready to slot onto the chassis. The trucks roll along and are fitted with wheels and tyres, brake systems and of course the SEA-Drive motors and batteries. The process sounds simple but in reality it’s quite complex and the company is currently turning out around one truck per day.

However, Glen Walker says that output will soon have to change if the current level of enquiry is maintained or increases. “We’ll outgrow this facility early next year,” he said.

“We’ll need larger premises to keep up with demand,” he added, although he wouldn’t be drawn on whether that premises would be the mooted move to Gippsland in Victoria’s east.

SEA Electric’s vehicles will be sold and serviced through a network of 15 dealers – co-incidentally Hino dealers – throughout the country.

Mr Walker said the price of the trucks was around two to three times the price of a comparable diesel truck but the fuel savings would mean the truck would pay for itself in four to five years, depending on usage.

The servicing needs of the electric trucks is limited but Mr Walker said they were erring on the side of caution and bringing the trucks in for servicing on a similar schedule to that of the diesel trucks. “There’s no servicing needed on the motor, it’s more for checking the brakes, wear and tear items and to check the electric cabling and things like that,” he said.

Warranty is the same as on the diesel trucks at 150,000 kilometres or three years for the 300 and 200,000 kilometres or three years on the 500 Series.

In terms of safety the trucks have ABS and air bags as standard; Mr Walker said stability control would be coming soon.

Range is dependent on usage but we were told that 150 to 300 kilometres could be expected.

Following our factory tour, where we got to see everything from bare chassis to completed trucks, we were offered a drive in a selection of the fully-electric trucks on the floor.

The first of these was a 300 based on a Hino 816. It was an interesting truck in that it had a custom tipper body with a crane for lifting concrete road barriers. The truck was rated at 1500Nm and had a 138kWh battery pack giving a range of around 250km.

GVM was 8.5 tonnes of which around 3.5 tonnes was payload.

Having driven the Fuso eCanter on a couple of occasions, I was looking forward to getting a seat-of-pants comparison. The first thing I noticed is that the SEA 300 still has some of the equipment left over from the diesel truck. The tacho is still there, for example, and a host of the warning lights no long apply, but the central screen now lets you know that you’re in an electric truck and it gives you the percentage of charge still available and the remaining range.

The buttons for the automatic transmission are still there and they operated just the same. Turn the key, push D, let the park brake off and we’re away.

As with all electric vehicles, torque is available from zero, so takeoff is instantaneous and rapid. These trucks do not hang around when you hit the go pedal. And there is no transmission: they just wind out in the one gear with everything done by the diff ratio.

Admittedly, we had no load on the truck save for the tipper body and crane, but this was one quick truck. The steering and suspension is all still Hino so it rides and handles just like a diesel truck, just with no noise and more grunt.

It’s a really easy truck to drive and quite stress-free.

The next truck I drove was the 500 with a refrigerated body destined for Bidfood in Brisbane. This was a really nice truck obviously based on the Hino 500 Series. This one had 2500Nm – similar torque to some prime movers – and a 138kWh battery pack.

This was my favourite truck of the day. It was quiet and super smooth with air suspension. This particular truck was based on the Hino FC which we were told was a bit of a one-off; the standard offering is based on the FE.

All the SEA Electric trucks have standard three-position regenerative braking, which is like having a retarder on a larger truck. The amount of braking this gives is amazing and once you get used to it, it’s remarkable how little you have use the service brakes.

I was told by Glen Walker that brake life is increased by a factor of three.

And, added to that, while the vehicle is under engine braking, it’s actually putting charge back into the batteries.

The third and final truck I drove on the day was an ACCO dual-control headed for the refuse industry.

This truck was probably not really up to scratch as it didn’t have a body on it, let alone a load, so it was very bumpy in the suspension and quite lively on the road. That said, it was quiet. So quiet in fact that I couldn’t believe how loud the standard indicator warning was.

The indicator warning fairly screamed at me to the point where I figured that if it was my truck, I’d pull the fuse on the thing! My co-pilot had the same feeling…

The ACCO was rated at 22.5 tonne and it was fitted with a 3500Nm engine with 220kWh of battery power.

Even though the truck was unladen and felt old, as the ACCOs are compared to the more modern European trucks, the SEA version was civilised in its power delivery and great under the regen braking.

If I was the guy spending my working day behind the wheel of a truck such as this, I think I’d rather an electric one than a diesel. Just the amount of noise that must be generated to warrant an indicator warning as loud as this truck had would be very tiring to work with.

Overall, I had a great day in the SEA Electric vehicles and although there is a bit to do to get the gauges and warning lights looking more like they belong to the electric versions of the vehicles, the trucks themselves work fine, and then there’s the central screen to give you all the info you need.

Several councils in and around Melbourne have already got the electric trucks, or are soon to get them, and I’m sure that we’ll see more of them on the roads in the years to come.

SEA Electric will have five trucks at the 2021 Brisbane Truck Show. Trucks to be displayed at the Brisbane Truck Show include the SEA 300 EV and the SEA 500 EV, with the exhibit also offering visitors a glimpse into the technical aspects of the SEA-Drive Power-System.

The trucks will be located between the SEA Electric exhibit (Foyer stand 50), and the nearby South Bank Truck Festival.