The use of a 65-tonne, all-electric truck to make local deliveries to and from a BMW plant in Munich has removed 22 tonnes of CO2 from the route since its introduction in 2015.
Scherm Group has been using the fully electric Terberg YT202-EV terminal tractor to transport materials to its local BMW plant 3km away in a two-shift operation, eight times per day, five days a week.
Since 2015, the truck has completed 3,000 trips totalling 17,000km and has helped Scherm save 8,000 litres of diesel and 22 tonnes of CO2.
“We are really satisfied with the e-truck,” said Ulf Frenzel, fleet manager for Scherm Group. “We wanted to prove that electric mobility also works in freight transport, and we achieved our goal.”
The fully-electric tractor is equipped with a three-phase synchronous motor (614V) with a maximum power rating of 188hp and a fully automatic Allison 3000 Series transmission.
Allison said its automatic transmission is the key to the driveline: the truck has to launch with a gross combination weight of up to 65 tonnes and achieve maximum speed as quickly as possible to meet the tight delivery schedule.
This is made possible by the transmission’s torque converter that multiples engine torque during start-up and acceleration.
“The electric truck has proved itself in city distribution and the just-in-time delivery for BMW is working fluently,” said Frenzel.
“The Allison transmission makes it possible to specifically use the power of the electric motor in the best manner. And the e-truck can be maneuvered easily and is extremely easy to drive."
A second BMW supplier - Elflein Spedition & Transport - begun operating a similar electric truck in November last year. It is expected to save 21 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
