Mannheim – Mercedes-Benz Trucks has delivered yet another fully-electric eActros to a customer for on-road testing. The recipient this time around is TBS Transportbeton. The Mannheim-based company is known for producing high-quality concrete and cement and offers their customers a range of additional services besides. TBS is one of a group of 20 customers, all from various industries, that are now integrating the heavy-duty electric truck into their fleets. Each of these customers will put a near-series version of either the 18 or 25-tonne variant through its paces in real operations for a whole year and will test the respective vehicle for its suitability for their daily field of work. The aim is to make locally emission-free and quiet driving a reality in cities by 2021, also with series heavy-duty trucks – and all of this as economically viable as with a diesel truck. The test series consists of two phases with ten customers each, spanning a total of around two years.

The vehicle handover to TBS took place in Mannheim this Wednesday. The first eActros of the so called innovation fleet has been in practical trial for one customer since September already. The subsequent vehicle handovers from the first phase of the project will follow until the end of the year.

Each customer's field of work presents a specialist set of requirements for the eActros. TBS is testing a 25-tonne variant for the transport of fly ash from the coal-fired power plant in Mannheim to the cement mixing facility at the town's port. The fly ash is used for the production of specific types of cement and concrete. The transported weight can amount to ten tonnes. The routes are approximately seven to eight kilometres in length (one way) and are repeated as many as eight times a day as part of a single shift by a single driver. Between journeys, there is no need to recharge the vehicle. The eActros can cover a range of up to 200 km. The energy is stored in lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of 240 kWh. Irrespective of the available charge, fully charging takes between two and eleven hours (at 150 or 20 kW).

The development and testing of the heavy-duty electric truck in short-radius distribution operations is sponsored as part of the "Concept ELV²" project to varying degrees by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUB) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).