Mercedes-Benz completes deliveries of its fleet of electric semi trucks for testing with customers

Mercedes-Benz has now delivered the last one of its 10 eActros electric semi trucks as part of the first phase of its ‘Innovation fleet’ to test the electric trucks with customers.

Daimler built two variants with a gross vehicle weight of 18 or 25 tonnes.

The truck is powered by two electric motors with a total power output of 250 kW and powered by two battery packs with a 240 kWh capacity.

The German truck manufacturer describes the powertrain:

The drive system comprises two electric motors located close to the rear-axle wheel hubs. These three-phase asynchronous motors are liquid-cooled and operate with a nominal voltage of 400 volts. They generate an output of 125 kW each, with maximum torque of 485 Nm each. The gearing ratios convert this into 11 000 Nm each, resulting in driving performance on a par with that of a diesel truck.

The maximum permissible axle load stands at the usual 11.5 tonnes. The energy for a range of up to 200 km is provided by two lithium-ion batteries with an output of 240 kWh.

These are the same battery packs that have been used by EvoBus GmbH. In term of capacity, it’s a significant powertrain, but it can only enable about 125 miles of range in a vehicle of this size and weight.

As for charging capacity, Daimler says that it can take up to a 150 kW charge rate.

In order to understand how fleet operators could use these trucks, Mercedes-Benz delivered the 10 eActros vehicles to 10 customers who are going to “put them through their paces as part of their regular daily operations.”

The 10th and final electric truck was delivered earlier this week to food logistics specialist Nagel-Group in Hamburg.

Tobias Jardon, Head of the Nagel-Group Hamburg branch, commented on their new truck:

“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.”

Daimler plans to use the feedback from those customers to improve the electric truck for a second phase of testing and bring the vehicle to series production in 2021.