Kögel Trailer GmbH has introduced a modified semi-trailer designed for battery-electric trucks, aiming to address axle load limitations while allowing higher payloads for transport operators.
The Germany-based trailer manufacturer said its new e-optimised Kögel Light Plus model reduces the load on a tractor unit’s drive axle by up to two tonnes compared with conventional curtain-sided trailers. The design change is intended to help offset the additional weight of batteries commonly used in electric trucks.
The trailer is based on the existing Kögel Light Plus platform but features a shortened wheelbase between the kingpin and the first trailer axle, reduced by 30 centimetres. According to Kögel, this modification helps distribute weight more effectively and prevents the tractor unit’s drive axle from exceeding legal load limits.
Electric truck manufacturers have been grappling with the challenge of integrating heavy battery systems while complying with axle load regulations. Under EU Directive 96/53/EC, battery-electric tractor units are permitted to increase the maximum gross combination weight from 40 tonnes to 42 tonnes to compensate for battery mass. However, axle load limits and dimensional regulations originally designed for diesel trucks remain unchanged.
“In practice, this regulation can lead to the permissible rear axle loads on the tractor unit being exceeded, especially if the additional battery weight is primarily on the drive axle and cannot be distributed evenly across the train,” Kögel said.
The permissible load on a tractor’s drive axle remains capped at 11.5 tonnes, a threshold that the company said can already be exceeded when a battery-electric tractor is paired with a conventional semi-trailer. As a result, the additional battery weight can reduce the amount of cargo that operators are able to transport.
Kögel said its redesigned trailer could help mitigate this limitation. “If a transport company uses an e-truck with a standard trailer, the maximum payload with a uniform load is around 20 tons. When using the e-optimised Kögel Light Plus, up to 4 tons more payload can be achieved – depending on the type of e-tractor,” the company stated in an accompanying release.
The trailer is compatible with zero-emission tractor units from multiple manufacturers and can be used across a range of transport applications, the Burtenbach-based company said.
Kögel added that the shorter wheelbase could also reduce tyre wear during cornering and improve tracking behaviour under both loaded and unloaded conditions.
“With the e-optimised Light Plus, Kögel offers a practical, technically sophisticated solution for the central challenges of electric heavy-duty transport,” the company said. “Kögel is thus making a concrete contribution to increasing efficiency and to the successful transformation towards sustainable logistics.”