Calor has acquired a battery electric 7.5 tonne Mitubishi FUSO eCanter to deliver bottled butane and propane to customers in central London.
The truck is based at Calor’s depot in Wandsworth and will spend much of its time working inside the city’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Calor is already using a Dutch EMOSS range extended LPG/electric hybrid truck but this is its first all-electric vehicle.
The company’s national vehicle engineering manager Alan Harrison said: “At Calor we like to move quickly to adopt any new technology that can help our business. The FUSO eCanter is a perfect example – it reduces the impact of our operations on the environment, while also making sound financial sense.”
The eCanter is the world’s first fully electric light-duty truck to enter series production. It has a body and payload allowance of up to 4.5 tonnes and is powered by a 129 kW electric motor.
“Electric power is a new departure for us, so of course we’ll be monitoring the truck very closely,” continued Harrison. “The environmental benefits are clear, but we are also expecting the eCanter to prove highly economical in terms of its total cost of operation. The early signs are certainly promising.”
The eCanter can cover more than 62 miles on charge, and Calor’s vehicle will typically cover no more than 30 miles a day. Its batteries are charged overnight at the depot.
